Nevermore Sweetling
by Ordon
Summary: Qrow Branwen has long stood alone as the guardian of humanity against the various insane cultists and monsters that seek to bring destruction. Now however, he must make an unlikely alliance to protect a young champion who will prove key to defeating the darkness that comes.
1. Chapter 1

People ask me why I drink; my responses vary according to my current level of sobriety; if I'm tipsy, I glare at them. If I'm drunk, I laugh at them; if I'm completely hammered… I order another and knock it back, sometimes before knocking the glass over their head, depends on how I'm feeling.

I unscrewed the cap to the flask I kept around my belt; I knocked back the glorious, burning ambrosia and let out a satisfied sigh, I try to tell myself sometimes that it just tastes really good.

The real reason?

" _Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."_

The cultists below continued their chant, oblivious to the hooded figure lurking in the shadows on the cliff overhead. A large tentacle rose from the water and slammed onto the shore, a single ghastly green eye began to rise, it blinked slowly in the pale moonlight.

I shuddered and took another long pull from the flask, reluctantly I screwed the cap back on and went through the plan again. I had waited up until now, but it looked like only the big bastard in the middle of the ritual circle spoke the old tongue with any kind of decency. I would have to move fast, but if i took him out, then presumably big and ugly would go back into the deeps from whence it came. As it would have no mortal soul to beckon it to the virgin sacrifice that was struggling and screaming on the big stone altar that would give it sustenance that would allow it to have an anchor in the mortal realm. I nodded, satisfied, and pulled out my sword, I was about to jump down when suddenly a figure on the right side of the circle began taking up the chant, then the one opposite them began chanting… then the one next to _them_. Suddenly, the whole group was chanting in a rising crescendo, no doubt they thought it was super fancy and dramatic as their flabby, tentacled sushi overlord made its way into the mortal realm.

Well damnit, Plan B? Maybe go in, take out big bastard first? I began categorizing threats, there was a guy with a wicked-looking knife, maybe him next? Then again; there were two thugs with the rifles, maybe them and then go for the rest of the chanting cultists...

A crooked obsidian beak emerged from the water and let out a deafening screech, breaking my train of thought.

You know what? Screw it, I was too drunk for this. I pulled out my sword and leapt off of the overhang, my weapon already transforming.

The cultist bastards never knew what hit them, the big one suddenly cut off his chant, and his expression was perplexed as he fell to his knees. I continued the arcing slash to take out two more of the cultists mid-chant, my cape fluttered wildly and I stood up like a vengeful spirit.

I stood up and grinned viciously, twirling my scythe, I beckoned at the thugs who were simply standing there, jaws dropped, guns held loosely in their arms.

"C'mon -hic- get some!" I yelled at them. They recovered themselves and raised their rifles. Nailed it.

The one on the right looked uncertain as he struggled to get a clear shot… his companion didn't have the same trigger discipline and mashed down the trigger, his rifle churned as he sent the rounds down range. I smirked and lazily leapt high into the air, the cultists below jerked and writhed as the bullets tore into them. His companion turned to the side and put a single round into the man's head, ending the fusillade as he dropped limply to the ground, leaving only a single cultist whose chanting held a panicked edge to it as he desperately called to his twisted god to get over here and eat me already.

Or at least I think that was the gist of it, my old tongue isn't great and I was _slightly_ drunk. I landed a few yards away from the remaining gunman, who tossed the rifle to the side and pulled out a long katana, which he held in a guard position.

I frowned and with an effort of will, began to transform my scythe back into a sword. I whirled it around a bit, getting a feel for the change in balance.

The thug spoke, "And now, shall you be cleansed unbeliever," he leapt forward and slashed at me with deadly quickness, I parried it nimbly and we began to circle each other.

"I shall destroy you with the power granted to me by Tep ho'amon" he intoned and struck at me again, our blades clashed and locked.

I grinned, "So that's old tongue for 'fried squid', that waitress was giving me a weird look last night."

The thug growled and leaned forward, and I grunted as the pressure increased, damn this guy was strong. I disengaged from the clash and jumped back, he followed me, too fast for me to react and he kicked my leg out from under me. I rolled, dodging his blade as it crashed into the sand where it stuck fast.

I roared and swung my blade, but it was cut short as he reached up and grabbed it with his bare hand. Blood seeped around it as he clenched hard.

"Fool." he whispered, "As our lord emerges, I grow stronger." Suddenly he blurred and I felt a massive blow connect with my stomach, sending me rolling. I got unsteadily to my hands and knees, looking up, I saw black ink beginning to writhe across my opponent's skin forming alien runes that made my brain ache just looking at them.

He smiled, and I saw that the black ink was oozing from between his teeth and dripping down his gums. "Yes, unbeliever, you shall perish, your soul shall be among the first to be fed to our lord. Behold!" he turned, and pointed.

I looked past my opponent and retched a little, it was a massive and rubbery thing, with four tentacles splayed out on the beach, all covered with rapidly blinking green eyes and open mouths with needle-like teeth. Its chest was scaly and oozed with the same black ink that covered the man in front of me, its single eye leered; scanning the beach hungrily. It fixated on the screaming woman on the altar, and its beak lolled open and long fibrous growths began to emerge to begin curling down towards her.

"YES! YES!" The man in front of me screamed, "Soon, ALL of Remnant will cower before the might of our lord! NONE shall be able to oppose his might! ALL will come to know his terror and the unworthy shall be a feast for his-." Suddenly a single _crack_ echoed through the night, and the final remaining cultist pitched forward, minus his head. The zealot stood there for a moment, his mouth wide, he whirled around to see me with the shotgun mode of my weapon active, the barrels still smoking.

I gave him an apologetic grin, "Yeah, no… I eat sushi, sushi does not eat me."

The man stared at me, then looked at his hands, which had begun to bubble and ooze. He screamed as the oozing flesh began to fall steaming into the sand.

"Ooohhh, you made one of _those_ deals huh? Man, sucks to be you." I watched as the man's form degraded rapidly, and soon he was nothing more than a steaming puddle of black ink. There was a screech and I looked up to see the massive creature desperately trying to dig its tentacles into the beach, but it was to no avail. It slide inexorably back into the water, as a whirlpool formed around its trunk that was still submerged; soon, there was nothing left of the creature but the calmly crashing waves.

It would've been peaceful, but the woman on the altar was still screaming her head off, struggling at her bonds.

I sighed and walked up to the altar. "Jeez, shut up already."

The woman stopped screaming and looked at me, eyes wild.

"That's better, now, I'm going to cut these ropes, but first we need to go over a few things; you are NOT going to try to brain me with some rock, you are NOT going to try to shank me with that knife on the ground over there; in short, can you please just NOT attack me? I know you've had a stressful night, and I know that your sanity has gone a little bonkers, but I take those kind of things poorly. Now I want you to look at that," I pointed over at the corpses that littered the beach. "Then ask yourself if you want to be on my good side… or my bad side. Are we clear?" the woman nodded desperately. "All right."

I took my sword and sawed at the knots that held her to the altar, in short order the woman was free, although she just laid there, staring at me.

I frowned at her, "What is it?", she said nothing and just stared levelly at me "Is there something on my fac-?" The woman suddenly shot up and her mouth opened to reveal razor sharp teeth and my vision filled with those pearly whites. However, I had been at this far too long to be killed by some frickin' monster virgin, and my blade sent her head flying across the sand to land a few feet away. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, letting out a sigh.

This happened far more than I cared to admit; although the sacrifice being a monster or something was a new one. Normally the virginal sacrifice were a tad twitchy, their sanity shattered by maltreatment, and… you know, being the sacrifice to an Elder Thing. I sighed and looked down at the head, who was looking at me with condemning eyes as it lay on the beach; suddenly it's mouth opened, "They didn't feed me anything for a week you know," it said sullenly.

I groaned and rubbed my face wearily. "Damn it, and my night just gets weirder." I looked back at the body that was still sitting upright on the altar, I poked it and it flailed a little before falling back flat on the altar.

"Hey! Quit it!" the head said indignantly from the ground.

I sighed and shoved the body onto the beach, where it writhed blindly; I sat down on the altar and turned my gaze back to the head.

"Look, just stop moving! No, stop, don't get up!" the head was yelling, her eyes fixated on the headless body that was trying to get onto its feet; the head's gaze turned to me.

"Can you just like… tie it down or something please?"

I raised an eyebrow and casually leaned back.

"Jerk," the head muttered.

I shrugged, "You're the one who tried to eat me after I rescued you. Aren't sacrifices supposed to be virginal, mortal souls only?"

The head rolled its eyes, "Look, I'm a half breed; half mortal and half-Rokurokubi."

"Gesundheit."

The head glared at me balefully, "It's a kind of monster that can detach its head and float it around, but since I'm a half-breed, I can do the separation part, but not the floaty part." It looked back at the body, which was now on its feet and was staggering down the beach.

"Look, can you _please_ just make sure it doesn't get too far away… I'll make it worth your while…"

I snorted, "Yeah, sure; saving you from crazy sushi cultists gets my face eaten off. I don't want to see what happens when I get you and your body re-aquainted, I'm going to hazard a guess that it's round 2."

She looked desperate, "I have information that you'll find valuable."

I stood up and brushed off my pants, "Look, I've gone on that song and dance before; tell me how to kill you, and I can make it quick and painless. Otherwise, I have to start experimenting." I hefted my sword, and began walking toward the head.

"It's about the next Devorahk."

I stopped dead in my tracks, and I ground my teeth.

The head smiled at me, "You can feel it, can't you? You know it's coming."

"What do you know about that?" I demanded, leaning my blade against my shoulder.

The head rolled it's eyes, "Hello? Half-mortal still, remember? It's coming, but you have no clue when or where it's going to happen, do you?"

I set my blade into the sand, "All right, how do you know that?"

"Because they've obfuscated it this time; they're getting ready to strike, and they don't want anything to stand between them and the Chosen." the head smiled sweetly at me.

"Let me guess, because you're also half monster, you've got it on your radar." She said nothing, but just kept smiling at me with her pointy teeth. I sat down again, rubbing my temples as I considered my options.

It was true that I had felt it, all of those that are sensitive can, there was going to be a Chosen, someone who could wield the power of anima. It was going to happen soon, but by all accounts, we should have also known when and where it was going to occur, that kind of thing was felt by both sides. It was kind of a convergence, there would be a big throw down, but because of the Chosen, mortals would win, monsters would go home, lick their wounds, and plot again.

This time though, something was different, and what this thing roku-thing just said confirmed what Ozpin and I had been afraid of for some time now. When anima intervened directly in the mortal world and selected its champion, there would be no one to stand beside them, and all of the monsters would know it and would be right on time to have a big old happy fun time.

I looked at the head, and made a decision, I got up, kicked the stumbling headless body down into the sand, grabbed it by the arm, and began dragging it back toward her. The head looked at me smugly as I approached. Then it frowned and winced slightly as I flipped the body up on the stone surface and began tying it down again.

"What are you doing?" it asked, bewildered.

"Creating insurance," I finished tying down the body and turned to the head, kneeling down to look it in the eyes.

"This is how it's going to work; I can't trust you, but this is too big to just leave as is. So, I'm going to take you with me, and if you're telling me the truth, then I re-unite you with your body. If you're lying to me, we go back to Plan A."

I picked up the head by its long, black hair and flung it over my shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell!? So you're just going to leave my body here out in the open?!"

I shrugged, "I'll hide it someplace, I know a guy."

She paused at that, "You have a guy…"

I shrugged slightly, "Yeah, a kind of banker; won't ask too many questions; owes me a favor."

I felt the head shift a little on my back, "You are a very weird man."

I sighed heavily, I just called weird by a talking head that I was taking hostage to save the world… I was getting hammered tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up the next day to a roaring hangover, I gritted my teeth and lifted my head; fighting through the pounding headache. In doing so knocked over an empty glass, which rolled into a cluster of seven or eight similar containers that stood empty on the wooden table. I groaned and rubbed my face, when my hand dropped away I saw the head of the Roku-what's it staring at me.

"Well, look who's finally back in the world of the living."

I looked at her blearily and picked up a bottle; I shook it hopefully, and brightened a little when it caused a small _sloosh_. I leaned my head back and drank the final drops; in doing so, I noticed a small card on the table. I picked it up and examined it, 'Deposit box 66690: This means we're even for Atlas; Murtz'. I frowned, "Huh, so that's taken care of then." I eyed the bottle and set it down.

"So it's true, you're Qrow… THE Qrow. The guy you met with mentioned the name."

I nodded, "Eyup, that's me, the one and only."

"The man who slew the Beast of Angmar, destroyer of the mighty Cult of the Hig'ult Vashet, the man who has been described by both mortal and monster as the protector of Remnant." she glanced at the mound of glasses and bottles before me, a skeptical expression on her face.

"Hey, a man's gotta do something in his free time." I replied.

"Right… you know, it's kind of worrying to think that the first thing you do when you receive information that could mean the end of the mortal world; is to get blackout drunk at a random bar."

I leaned back with a wounded expression, "Hey, c'mon, I'm the best."

She raised an eyebrow, "Really? I'd hate to see what the worst looks like."

"Besides, it's not just a random bar." I remarked.

She frowned, "Okay, I'll bite: what's so special about this bar?"

"Well first off, they have the best Mistralian Gold." I said, jerking my finger at the sadly empty bottle, "it's hard as hell to get a hold of authentic stuff. It's a key ingredient for a very special kind of hung over."

Her disapproving expression didn't change and she sighed heavily.

"Oh by the way, how the hell did I explain a talking head away last night?" I inquired while I examined the glasses and bottles in front of me, trying to find any that still held their precious contents.

Her expression darkened, "You passed me off as a ventriloquist dummy. Fortunately for your cover story, the other patrons of the bar were already quite drunk; and the bartender himself didn't seem to care."

I chuckled, "Yeah, ol' Cernobog wouldn't have given a rat's ass, and he's seen far stranger things." I looked up at the clock, it was almost noon, I groaned and got up; I put my hand on the oak wall and began shuffling along. Occasionally I would stop and knock on the wood listening to the sound echo around the empty barroom, before moving onto a new patch and beginning the process over again.

"So what's your story? Got a name?" I asked over my shoulder as I continued about the room.

"My name is Kali, as for my story? Not much to tell honestly, my father was a Rokurokubi and my mother was a Huntress. That relationship went a tad better than it usually tends to, with the two of them parting ways when I was born. I've only seen my father a couple of times."

I knocked on the wall, listened for a bit, then grunted, "So how did you get involved with the sushi cultists?"

She sighed, "Those guys that had captured me? Let's just say that I… went through a bit of a rebellious phase… my mom and I weren't getting along on some things, and I signed up with some cultists a while back of the Wind Elemental Lord Kir'Ala."

I frowned, "Heard of them, aren't they kind of anti Great Old Ones?"

"Yeah, and that's what got us into trouble, let's just say that there is no more Kir'Ala cult around here anymore."

"Those sushi cultists moved in and took over?"

"That's kind of an innocuous way of putting it; they came in, killed everyone, and were going to finish the job by sacrificing me to their lord. They needed a mortal soul that was inducted into the mysteries of a lord that was connected to Remnant."

"And you fit the bill?"

"Pretty much," I heard her shift a little on the table, "okay, so I'll bite, what are you doing?"

I had knocked on the eastern wall and had stopped there, and was currently running my hands over it, occasionally glancing at the clock.

"So like I said before, this isn't just some random bar, and it's really hard to get your hands on authentic Mistralian Gold… that's because Mistralian Gold… REAL Mistralian Gold, has a tinge of anima infused in it. This is the only place on the continent that I'm aware of that sells it; it's also situated right on a Conduit, and this particular one opens up right about…"

I knocked on the wood one last time, and felt a slight pulling sensation on my hand as I drew it away. I grinned and yanked my hand back hard… suddenly the wall began churning, and spinning, golden light began washing over me, I turned back to Kali and motioned to the portal.

"C'mon this is our ride."

She just simply stared at me, speechless, I picked her up and stepped into the whirlpool.

We emerged onto a large land-bridge that arched off into the distance, along its sides were whirling pools of light; all of which had various buildings or landmarks displayed on them. The air around us was filled with such formations that crossed each other for miles above our heads.

"Welcome," I said into the stunned silence, "to Agartha,".

She was silent for a while, "So all of those images… they're all…"

"Connected to a location, a Conduit; a pathway from there, to Agartha, to another Conduit." I walked to the portal across from the one we had emerged; a tall rock formation was projected onto its surface, I extended her toward it, "Hot or cold?"

She turned a little toward me, "Um… what?"

I shrugged, "So like you said, we're kind of pressed for time; and from what I understand, your sense of where the anima is coalescing is kind of like a metal detector, not a road map. So instead of flying around the world, I'm doing this."

She raised an eyebrow, "That's not going to work you know."

I frowned, "Why not?"

"Well, we're still technically HERE, so I'm not going to get anything like this."

It dawned upon me what she was saying, "Ohhhh, gotcha." Without ceremony, I shoved Kali's head through the portal, kept it there for a few seconds, then pulled her back in. "Hot or cold?"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" she screamed at me.

"Well? Hot or cold?" I repeated.

"There was a Grimm like three feet away from me! What are you going to do if that happens and a Beowulf eats me!"

I grinned at her, "I guess I'll have to get someone else to give me a _hand_."

She glared at me, "Really?."

I walked to the next portal that had a large, foreboding tower on it, "Don't worry, I'll be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you, two heads are better than one."

She sighed, "You are intolerable."

I grinned and stuck her into the portal, then pulled her out again, "Hot or cold?"

She rolled her eyes, "Cold; so is this REALLY your master plan?"

"What, you got a better idea?" She was silent as I walked to the next portal.

"Uhh…. I guess not."

I nodded, "Exactly, this will be the fastest way to at least whittle down the possible locations; with the added benefit that we can instantly get there once we find where we want to go."

I repeated the process, "Hah… hot or _cold_?"

"Yo-ou're, a-a-an a-a-ass," she said through chattering teeth, she shook herself a little, casting off the snow that covered her head, "cold."

We repeated the process for a while, "Hot or cold?" I asked wearily.

"Uh… cold." she lifted her eyes to me, "So uh… some kids may or may not have seen me…"

I grunted and moved onto the next portal, "Not a big deal, if one of those kids manages to figure out how to get in here, I'll be damned impressed. There's more to entering Agartha than just knowing where the Conduit actually is; they have to be able to channel anima… or the monster equivalent, mana."

She frowned, "So wait… what about Grimm?"

I shook my head, "Doesn't work like that; anima itself is weird, naturally channeling anima seems to be incompatible with Aura; and from what we've observed it seems that that remains true with Grimm's natural energies and mana." I shrugged, "that's why I have to cheat and use Mistralian Gold, it acts as a short-term battery."

She looked up at me, "What about on the return journey?"

I grinned and pulled out a flask and shook it; causing it to emit a slight goldish glow, "This holds enough Mistralian Gold for three journeys into Agartha." I pocketed it again, "Of course, Mistralian Gold isn't the only beverage that contains anima, but I'll tell you this much, out of all of those that I've used, it tastes the best. It also cuts down on a lot of the more unpleasant side effects."

"Cold… side effects? Such as?"

"Double vision, out of body experiences, burning sensations, freak lightning storms…" I began rattling off, when I saw her face blanch and I stopped.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised, if there's ever a lightning storm that comes out of nowhere on a clear day, then it might be somebody getting a quick start of anima."

She swallowed nervously… how did she even do that? She was missing half her neck.

"It's not that… I think it's time for you to be damned impressed, because uh… those kids followed us."

I whirled around and looked behind us, to see two diminutive figures approaching in the distance, I saw one of them pass something red to the other… it looked like a ball. The other caught it without even looking, I could see its eyes fixated on us… in fact, both of their eyes were fixed straight ahead on us. I frowned and pulled rummaged through my pack, pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked through them, "Oh Maidens no…" I cursed.

"What? What is it?" Kali asked, an edge to her voice as she saw my distress.

"Those aren't kids… those are Proxies."

Kali frowned, "Proxies?", I pocketed my binoculars and quickened my pace; I only left Kali in each portal for a couple seconds now, explaining between immersions.

"Proxies are kind of what they sound like… they're not monsters themselves per se, and in fact, were usually mortals before something got a hold of them. These two look like they might have been siblings… twins… before something got them. My guess would be a Night Haunter of some kind."

"Cold… all right, but how can you tell?" she asked, her pitch heightened, I could tell she was trying to stay calm.

"First off, their movements aren't natural, whenever they pass that ball to one another, they both stop for the movement at the same exact frickin' time; it's too coordinated, and honestly everything about them screams cliche horror film. Second is their eyes… Proxies will often do their best to hide it, but their eyes will always be inverted, black eyes, white pupils."

"Okay wow yeah… cold… that's just a little creepy; so hypothetically what happens if they reach us?"

I looked over my shoulder, the two creeps were catching up to us, I forced myself to calm down, and gripped the hilt of my sword nervously.

"Proxies by themselves can be pretty nasty... but the problem is that they essentially use mana to create a Conduit between themselves and whatever has converted them."

She let out a breath, "So that means a Night Haunter right on top of us huh?"

I nodded, "Yeah pretty much, we should be able to lose them once we get out of Agartha."

"Cold. So here's a thought, let's jump ship."

I shook my head, "I won't be able to jump start myself like that for a few days, and even if that wasn't the case, there's no guarantee that I would be familiar with the Conduit we took or if we could even reach a Conduit back to Agartha, you've seen some of the places that some of these things lead to."

She nodded a little, "Yeah… good point… cold."

I whipped my head around… yeah, those creepy little brats were getting closer all right, I could see their unnatural eyes… their wide, creepy looking grins. They saw my gaze and licked their lips in unison, showing off needle-thin teeth.

Welp… chalk that up to the five-hundred and fifty-nine things that fueled my nightmares.

Suddenly, Kali gave a start, "Warm… definitely getting there…" She shifted her gaze to a portal that was three down from us, "Go there, hurry!".

I ran over to it and stuffed her in, the Proxies were nearly on us, and I could hear the patter of their feet as their pace quickened.

I yanked Kali back out, "HOT, HOT, GO, GO, GO!" she screamed at me.

I steeled myself and dived into the pool.


	3. Chapter 3

I've found out in various times in my life that you can cheat all you want, but eventually, the universe delivers what's coming to you. It's kind of like how, when I was younger, I tried to put off hangovers by simply drinking more; it turns out it doesn't really work like that... freakin' Ozpin. You can cheat at card games, but eventually, the Atlesian sailor that looks like he bench-presses buildings for fun shows you that you can't have four aces because he has a fifth one in his hand… and then he shows you that you also can't have all of your teeth because some of them are on the floor; heh… good times.

The point is, it hurts like all get out when you get jump-start anima drained out of you. It's almost like when you enter Agartha, something looks the other way, and simply lets you off with a warning. When you leave Agartha though, that something grabs the belt.

When the pain only resembled fire flowing through my veins rather than molten lead I rolled to my feet and concentrated. Fighting through the pain that was coursing through my body; I called forth my Semblance, my body shrunk, my arms elongated into large, black wings. With a flurry of feathers, I grabbed Kali's hair with my grasping feet and took off to the sky in a rush.

A few seconds later, I was soaring in the air, catching the thermals that I knew all too well, and my gaze focussed on the ground ahead of us.

Vale, my home; I exulted there in the sky for a few moments, enjoying the old familiar breeze that ran through my feathers. I had been around the world, but it was here that I would always find the most joy in flight, here where I had first learned.

I looked below us in time to see the Proxies pop into existence as they exited the Agartha portal; they stood stock still for a few moments; then suddenly both of their heads snapped back as they directed their gaze directly at me.

A shiver ran through my body, and I flapped my wings hard and climbed high into the clouds. I would have to get out of their range, the fact that they hadn't even bothered scanning the ground below meant one of two things, one; they had tagged Kali or me with some kind of marker, which I wouldn't be able to detect or remove myself, as it was likely done with mana.

The second option chilled me a little due to its implications; it was possible they had initially followed Kali, but had recognized me, and thus had naturally assume that I would switch to flight form in order to escape. That thought worried me because usually Proxies weren't much in terms of independent thought; that of course, would change depending on how badass their creator was. In order to have that kind of recognition and thought, they would have to be pretty big. That was the thing about Night Haunters, they weren't a species in and of themselves, but rather were a collection of a bunch of different creepies and crawlies that could really only fully manifest themselves at night; thus the necessity of something like Proxies to mark targets in the day time. So theoretically the thing that created the Proxies could have been a tiny little alp… although doubtful since there had been two Proxies active at once, and those things could usually only manage one. However, if I was right and they had made such a connection, then we could be talking big time boogieman if I was lucky and worse if I wasn't. A part of me told me firmly that lucky people do not get creepy horror movie twins chasing after them in the first place. I told that part of my brain to stuff it and kept flying until I felt I was in the clear. Only then did I turn my gaze down to my companion.

"Hot or cold?" I asked, or tried to ask, instead bird noises came out and Kali shifted her gaze to look up at me.

"Huh… so you can't speak in that form?" she asked.

I clacked my beak sharply in irritated confirmation; she seemed to consider that for a moment, "Oh don't be cross, that's not 'cawed' for." she said sweetly.

I blinked and looked down at her to see her grinning innocently at me, "What?" she asked, "is putting the shoe on the other foot too much of a 'bird'en?"

I stared at her for a long moment, then with a brief effort of will, fell back into human form and soon we were hurtling in free fall toward the tree tops.

"AHHH!" she screamed, "Okay, not funny I get it!"

"You going to stop now?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, yes I'll stop with the bird puns!" she screamed desperately, her gaze fixed at the tree tops rapidly closing beneath us.

"So you promise you'll give it a… _nest_?"

She turned to me with an incredulous expression to see me with a very smug grin on my face, "SERIOUSLY, you're just doing this to one up me?!"

I shrugged a little and willed myself back into bird form and grabbed a hold of her once more with my talons, pulling back up into the sky. She hyperventilated a little as we leveled back out, soaring high on the currents.

Finally she gave a small huff, "Now that was just _fowl_ play."

I glared at her and loosened my grip a little, her eyes widened, "Okay okay, no more I promise."

I rolled my eyes and continued flying forward, I made more bird noises.

"Okay, I'm going to guess that means back to business then." Kali's eyes narrowed and her gaze swept the horizon, "straight ahead, right where that big tower is." she finally said.

My gaze flicked up and my heart sank a little, of course, it made too much sense; dead ahead of us, towering above the surrounding forest, proud and tall, was Beacon Academy.


	4. Chapter 4

I landed well outside the walls; falling out of bird form, I brushed myself off and considered my options. I didn't really have many options on what to do about the Proxies; either I had gotten out of range or I hadn't, there weren't any anima users that I knew of in the area that I trusted enough to touch something like this and not just summon them right to me. So that simply left me to do decide what to do about the disembodied talking head I would be walking into the city with. I looked down at Kali, "So you said I passed you off as a ventriloquist dummy?"

She looked up at me and snorted, "That was in a bar where according to you, the only person not drunk off their ass didn't care."

I rolled my eyes and thought for about that for a bit, suddenly she spoke again, "Here's a thought, give me back my body."

I looked down at her sharply, she raised an eyebrow, "Look, I've brought you this far; the only way to tell if I'm telling you the truth at this point is if Devorahk actually happens. If that's the case, then you know that you're gonna be hard pressed to fight all of the baddies that drop in AND return my body to me."

I frowned, to be fair, she had a good point; I considered my other options, I had to admit there weren't many, and to be fair, she was half mortal, a lot of monsters didn't make much of distinction between half-breeds and full mortals in terms of diet. She would have a lot better chance of surviving if she could actually run away once things got going.

I sighed and pulled out the card and my sword and started drawing a design in the dirt; when I was done, there was a circle with the numbers of the deposit box written in the center. I then pulled out the card and put it down directly below the number. I ran my thumb across my blade, creating a small cut, and I squeezed the blood from the cut onto the card; as soon as the drops touched, they burst into a blue flame. Slowly the flame grew into a large circle, and suddenly an arm popped out that waved around a little; then flew out, followed by the rest of Kali's body. It landed a short distance away and began flailing around; I sighed and dragged my blade across the circle and the blue circle disappeared. Ash fell down around me as I grabbed a leg of the body and dragged it over to Kali, who leered at it in hungry anticipation.

"Alright," I said, keeping it an arm's length away, "so this is how it's going to go, as far as I'm aware, you have no freakin' clue how to open up an Agartha entrance. That means that you are going to have a hell of a tough time getting away from here when Devorahk happens. That means it is in your best interest as a tasty mortal soul morsel to help me find the Chosen one. Comprende? So if you try to renege on our deal and book it; or stab me in the back, we're going back to Plan A from the beach… got it?"

Kali barely glanced at me, instead she stared at the struggling body, "Yeah, yeah sure… deal's still on, I help you find the Chosen one, I go free."

I considered her for a moment, then shrugged and tossed the body on top of her. I can't really describe what happened next, one moment the body was struggling on top of the head, the next, Kali was sitting up on the ground, experimentally rotating her head from side to side.

She looked up at me and grinned with those sharp teeth, "So uh… by the way, I'm feeling really hungry, now that I've got my body back; I kind of need food again."

I raised an eyebrow and snorted and rummaged in my pack and tossed her some beef jerky, which she bit in mid air, chewed, then swallowed. She shrugged, "That'll do for now, but you owe me a meal when we get into town."

I snorted, "So what, now I'm the one paying your way?"

She winked at me, "Well you know, maiden sacrifice and all they didn't really leave me my purse. What ever happened to chivalry?"

I rolled my eyes and began walking to the city, "Chivalry ends when Sleeping Beauty tries to bite your face off."

She stuck out her tongue at me and followed me, skipping down the hill toward the buildings in the distance.

We entered the city and I began heading toward the eastern edge; "We'll stay in an inn for tonight," I explained, "If the Proxies are still following us then they may get intimidated by the large gathering of people, even if they keep following us, it'll be tough for them to navigate the city." Or at least I hoped. Traditionally Proxies were awful at following people in places that had twists and turns; as their tracking only indicated things in a linear fashion. If the Proxies were as intelligent as I feared they were, then the only problem that they would have would potentially be reaching us before we headed out to the Academy in the morning. Mentally I shrugged, at least it would be something.

I turned down a street, and there it was, old, beat-up, and ugly as sin; the sign was crooked and hanging on by a single chain; the windows were boarded up as smoky light glowed onto the sidewalk. A man flew out of the saloon style doors and skidded to a stop in the street, unconscious with half his teeth missing. The Gold Bug Inn… a hive of scum and villainy that reeked of alcohol and cheap cigarettes.

A single tear fell from my eye; it was beautiful.

"There is no way in hell we're going in there right?" Kali asked dubiously.

I turned to her, "C'mon, this is the best place in town."

Kali nodded, "Uh-huh… just like you're the best?"

"Exactly, now c'mon." I turned and walked inside.

I took a deep breath when I walked into the crowded, smoke-filled room and moseyed up to the bar and leaned on it casually, my gaze tracked up a few feet to the bear-faunas that towered behind the bar.

"Orabella!" I called, "give me a shot of whisky would you kindly?"

She turned around and beamed down at me, "Oh, Qrow is that you? Give me just a second dearie." she reached up and pulled down a dark red bottle and poured it into a glass before sliding it my way. I raised it to her and knocked it back, and sighed in pleasure as the glorious liquid burned in my throat.

"Oy, Qrow dearie? Who's the wee lass?" I looked over my shoulder to see Kali shadowing me, looking nervously around at the various denizens of the bar.

"That's Kali, she's helping me with an assignment." I explained.

Orabella bent over and outstretched a massive hand, "How do you do Kali? My name's Orabella, I'm the owner of this here establishment."

Kali nervously took her hand and shook it gently, "Um… he-hello mam."

Orabella smiled widely at her, "Oh you're just a treat you are lass." Suddenly the bear-faunas gaze shot up, "OY DENNIS, I SEE YOU; YOU BASTARD... YOU TRY TO PICK-POCKET IN HERE AGAIN AND I"LL HAVE YOUR HIDE NAILED TO MY WALL!" she turned back to Kali and her expression grew concerned as she looked her up and down. "Oh look at you lass, you look famished. What's your pleasure?"

Kali hesitated, "Um… could I get some meat please?"

Orabella smiled sweetly, "Aye, I know just the thing," she looked over her shoulder "OY BRUTUS," she shouted, "GET YOUR LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHIN' ARSE MOVIN'! I NEED A BOAR ROAST OVER AT THE BAR FOR QROW'S LASS."

There was movement in the back and suddenly a delicious smell wafted through the air that made my mouth water. A few minutes later, Orabella set a massive roasted boar in front of the two of us.

"Oh you're an angel Orabella," I muttered and I reached for a knife and fork only to have Orabella smack my hand, "Ow!"

The Faunas wagged her finger in front of my face, "That's not for you dearie, that's for the lass, here you go." She set down a steaming steak in front of me, I grumbled a little, but that changed into groans of pleasure when I took a bite of the steak, it was positively delicious, juicy and tender; filling my mouth with heavenly flavor. I looked over at Kali; at first she seemed hesitant, but then she took a bite of the meat, and I saw her eyes go wide. She savagely tore off the legs and began taking alternating bites between the two pieces, entire pounds of flesh disappeared within seconds.

Orabella sighed happily, "Oh, she's a sweet thing isn't she?"

I grunted, "Yeah… a real sweetheart." I said a tad sarcastically.

Orabella glared at me a little, then bustled down the bar to start serving other patrons.

I dug into the steak happily, and took a swig of the liquid gold, man it was good to be home. Hell, as a bonus tomorrow I would even have an opportunity to visit my nieces…

Suddenly my bones went cold, of course, Ruby, the silver eyes… the next Devorahk, was going to be at Beacon Academy… right where Ruby was. My knife and fork fell limply from my hands and for a second I felt a white-hot anger; what the hell… hadn't I given enough? Hadn't I done enough to atone for Raven's damn mistakes? Fate just had to come and screw with me didn't it? I leaned back in my chair; and blew out a long breath.

Kali turned to me a frowned, "Are you alright Qrow?"

I rubbed my eyes slowly; could I trust her? It was just a hunch after all, but it just made too much damn sense. "Nah, it's nothing, just thinking about how much more expensive you're going to be now that you're not just a head."

She grinned at me, "I guess I'm going to cost you an arm and a leg?"

I groaned, "Seriously, enough with the puns, I can't take much more punishment."

She chuckled, "By the way, are you going to eat that?"

I looked at the half-eaten steak and pushed it toward her; she tore into it ravenously, and I thought of what tomorrow would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright, my senses screaming danger. I quickly grabbed my sword which rested beside the couch and scanned the room.

Kali was sleeping peacefully on the bed, her chest smoothly rising and falling as she snored slightly. The room's single door stood closed and triple locked just as I had left it, and yet something was wrong…

I listened carefully in the darkness, then I heard a soft impact… then again. I frowned, it almost sounded like rubber… like a- suddenly my heart skipped a beat. Ohhhh Maidens, like a rubber ball… I quietly tip-toed to the bed and shook Kali.

"Hey… hey… psstt!" I slapped her lightly on the cheek.

she blearily opened her eyes and yawned, "What is it? Is it morning already? Just give me like… five more minutes... " she started to shut her eyes, "maybe like an hour."

"Yeah no time for that," I hissed, "those Proxies found us."

Her eyes snapped open and she quickly rolled out of bed. "I thought you said that we lost them." she accused quietly.

"I mean, on very... VERY rare occasions, I can be mistaken." I whispered back as I crept to the door and carefully began unlocking it.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

I let out a slow breath, "It sounds like they're already in the hallway, so we're going to have to strike hard and fast," I looked her in the eyes. "So here's the thing, they're going to look like children, and I'm not going to lie to you; that's because at some point they were. Now though, they're just being used by the thing that got them; so you can't hold back. If they see us and get enough time to perform the ritual, then they're going to bring that monster right down on our heads; and Maidens know what else."

Kali pulled out a dagger and took a deep breath, then jerked her head in a nod. I pulled my sword closer to me, and closed my eyes. Then I slammed my shoulder into the door and rolled out into the hall; the two Proxies were right in front of me, and I saw their black, unnatural eyes widen and they smiled widely in unison, revealing razor sharp teeth. I rushed forward, sweeping my sword in a vicious arc. It swept cleanly through the neck of the first, and their head flew off its shoulders in a spray of blood, but the other was able to fling out a hand and the blade stopped cold as it grabbed it.

"Oh sh-" was all I got out before it viciously yanked the blade, sending me stumbling forward and it casually backhanded me with its other hand. My head whipped to the side and I was sent flying down the hall, sliding to a stop a few yards away. I shook my head and looked up to see that it had reversed its grip on the blade and was stalking its way down the hall, the wide grin still plastered on its mug. It raised its other hand and began twirling it; the air grew cold as black energy swirled in the air. It had barely walked past the door when a blur erupted and collided with it, sending it crashing into the wall. I blinked and saw Kali and the monster child struggling. The Proxy with a firm grip on Kali's knife hand, and Kali in turn desperately shoving away the sword. They stood there, locked in struggle for a few moments, then I saw Kali grin and she opened her mouth impossibly wide, the Proxy barely had time to blink before Kali engulfed the thing's head with her mouth and with an audible crunch, bit down on it with massive strength. The small body twitched spasmodically for a few seconds, then fell still. Kali let the limp form drop to the ground, then turned and walked over to me.

She offered me a hand,"What? Laying down on the job?" she asked with a smirk, the blood dripping down her face. I stood up hastily and brushed myself off; she frowned at me, then looked at her hand, which still had flecks of gore smeared on it, she shrugged as she straightened.

I was silent as I looked at the small bodies in the hall and grimaced, Kali followed my gaze and her eyes widened.

They were shrinking before our eyes, much like the cultist on the beach, they were liquefying rapidly into black sludge before evaporating. Kali wiped her face across her mouth and she grunted as she saw it came away clean, the blood had disappeared.

"Well that's convenient," she murmured softly.

I shrugged, "Not gonna lie, I would have had some really awkward conversations with police if most monsters weren't self cleaning."

"So that's it? We're clean?"

"Yeah, that should be it, we'd know it if they managed to open a portal."

Suddenly there was a crash from downstairs and I dashed to where my sword lay on the ground and snatched it up. I listened carefully, there was more sound of movement, then chills ran up my spine as I heard the old tongue.

I felt Kali walk up beside me, dagger in hand, "Was that what I think it was?" she whispered.

"Yeah… sounds like we might have more visitors, stay close."

"I think twice in twenty-four hours docks you down from your 'being mistaken on very, very rare occasions' rating." she punched me lightly on the shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and handed her my sword, "Hold onto this, I'm gonna scout ahead." I willed my Semblance to activate and soon I was looking through the eyes of a small rodent. I dashed forward stealthily and skittered down the stairs.

I descended the stairway to see a trio of men huddled together; two of them were chanting in the old tongue while a third looked at a small pendant in his hand. He cursed and looked up, "It has fallen silent," it hissed in the old tongue; or maybe it was remarking that its salad was cold; I really needed to study up on my old tongue.

"What shall we do?" one of the others rumbled, its deep voice belying its small frame. The first looked from side to side, then smiled, revealing two long fangs; its tongue flickered in and out as it looked to the door behind the bar.

"Let us ask the owners of this… fine establishment." it jerked its head at the third member, who walked up to the bar and lifted up a fist and slammed it down, shattering a hole through the wood, it walked through the newly created opening and rapped on the door.

I saw lights turn on behind the door and it opened to reveal a disheveled Orabella who blinked owlishly at the figure in front of her, she yawned hugely.

"Oy, we're closed ain't we? Sorry lads, you'll have to get your late night drinks elsewher-" her eyes widened as she saw the gaping hole in the bar and I saw her eyes flick to each of the trio confronting her. "Ack… you're gonna have to pay for that you know," she said, her voice becoming a low growl.

The snakey bastard chuckled slightly, "Miss, we have a few questions about the persons staying at this inn."

The bear Faunas crossed her arms, and lifted an eyebrow, "Until you pay me a couple hundred for that mess you made of my bar, you're not getting anythin' out of me."

The snake guy pretended to consider that for a bit, and mentally I cursed; Orabella might be big and I had seen her throw around drunk patrons before, but, unless I missed my guess; these three were monsters through and through. They would be on an entirely different level than the drunken brawlers she was used to. I would have to go back, get my sword, and distract them, try to get them out of the bar to avoid collateral damage. I had just turned to go back up the stairs when I saw a small figure out of the corner of my eye; I turned my head to see Orabella's husband, Rufus.

It wasn't often that I saw Rufus leave the tavern's kitchen; he was a short, stout man, with wild red hair, and a permanently grouchy expression; with a lower lip that jutted out like a bull dog. He was standing calmly a few paces behind the three creatures who were leering evilly at his wife; and my eyes widened as he began to waddle his way toward them.

Oh Maidens, I had no choice now… I would have to transform back now, get their attention, then dash back upstairs to get the sword from Kali. I began to concentrate when I saw the man reach up to tap the serpent man on the shoulder; the creature turned around and started to hiss when the squat man grabbed it by the throat and he picked it up off its feet. He promptly bashed it several times into the ground, then flung it across the room to slam into the wall. For a while everyone sat there dumbfounded, finally Orabella snorted and turned around, "Give'em hell Rufus; and make sure to get some money off 'em, they need to pay for the bar." she walked forward and closed the door behind her.

Rufus grunted and cracked his knuckles, then his eyes turned to me, and he jerked his head up toward the second floor. I shook myself and dashed back up the stairs, transforming as I went; Kali was standing at the top of the stairs; clutching my sword to her chest.

"I heard a crash and I thought-" there was a bellow and another crash and she simply held out the sword to me handle-first, I grabbed it and turned back down the stairs.

"Stay put!" I yelled over my shoulder and I thundered back down the stairs.

The bar room was a wreck, chairs and tables lay smashed and strewn about; in the center of the room, Rufus was wrestling with a huge bull-man, a minotaur, they twisted and turned, trying to throw the other off balance. The serpentman had changed as well, and was currently attempting to coil around the man's waist; who was desperately kicking at him. The third was some kind of praying mantis-like creature, and was currently trapped under Rufus other foot, its multi-faceted eyes bulged as it tried to crawl out from under the crushing weight. I charged in, slashing at the serpentman with a yell; it darted away, slithered out of reach, then whipped back around to examine its attacker.

Its eyes narrowed and it hissed triumphantly, "We have found you, Qrow Branwen! Our master desires your blood and soul and he shall have it!"

I snorted at him, "Seriously, why can't eldritch monstrosities ever desire to give _me_ something. They always want something from me; tell you what, I can do the blood part, as long as they pay for my drinks." Rufus grumbled something over his shoulder, and I nodded at him, "Oh yeah, and probably pay for the bar… and for the bar room; seriously, you guys always have to make such a me-" the serpentman apparently wasn't much for conversation, because he lunged at me without warning, I barely managed to dodge to the side, and stabbed out my blade, taking the monster in the throat. It writhed violently, green slick poured out from the wound as it tried to wrap back around on me; I slashed again, cutting through its midsection and its guts spilled everywhere on the floor. I gagged at the acrid smell and watched as the green ichor sizzled, burning through the wood. Seriously, acid blood? I was sick of these things getting new ideas, keep them boring and predictable, that's what I always say. I turned to watch as Rufus shoved forward and slammed down his other foot on top of the mantis man's head, it twitched violently, then fell still. Suddenly I heard buzzing and watched in growing horror as a black swarm began rising from the dead body. It surrounded Rufus, and he began flailing as they covered his arms and face.

I rolled and barely managed to put a table between me and the bugs before they flew at me in a cloud. I grunted at the impact and I got up, dashing toward the bar. I dove behind it and grabbed a bottle, and fumbled at my belt for a lighter, I heard the minotaur scream as he tipped over the bar to land a few paces away from me, I shuddered as I saw form covered with the insects, bone showed along his face and his eyes bled as his tongue lolled to the side. I feverishly turned back to the task at hand, I clenched the lighter and I flicked it open, the light flickered to life and sputtered as I got back to my feet and vaulted over the bar, narrowly dodging the swarm as it crashed into the ground where I had been sitting. I was running towards Rufus when suddenly my foot caught on something I crashed to the ground, the bottle flew from my grasp and broke on the ground, its contents spilling everywhere. My head whipped around to see the serpentman grinning weakly at me, "Master… desires… blood…" he croaked, my gaze shot up to see the swarm slam into the creature's head and it crashed heavily back to the ground, falling ominously still. I gulped as I saw the bugs crawl over its body, their massive black abdomens rising and falling as they stung and their pincers snapped off pieces of flesh as they bit into the fallen creature, scores of them fell off, burned by the acidic blood.

I gritted my teeth as I kicked at the arm that still held my foot; finally I broke free. I shot to my feet in time to see the cloud rise from the serpentman's corpse and make a beeline straight for me, too fast to avoid. Even as I braced for my impending doom I sighed, man… beeline… suddenly I was surrounded, and I screamed as I felt my skin burn from the bites and stings, they were everywhere, my eyes, my nose, biting, and stinging, my whole world was filled with buzzing and pain. I fell to my knees and desperately tried to crawl to the lighter; man… banished Great Old Ones, destroyed entire cults, and leaped buildings in a single bound… provided sufficient alcohol… and I was gonna be done in by bugs… what a world…

Suddenly there was a howling gale that whipped through the air, and I felt the insects torn from my skin. I coughed and spluttered and tried to squint through the sudden windstorm. I saw Kali standing at the base of the stairs, her eyes glowed as she her mouth opened and closed in a rhythmic chant that I could barely make out as old tongue over the tempest that raged, slamming the insects into the walls to fall limply to the floor. Gradually, the wind died down and she slumped over; a single bug buzzed toward her and she slammed it down to the floor, stamping on it with her foot repeatedly for good measure. Her eyes turned to me and she ran beside me, kneeling down, she squeezed my shoulder, "Hey Qrow, hang in there, I'll get you fixed up okay? Just rest for now."

I opened my mouth to say I was fine, but the words never left my mouth as the blackness washed over me.


	6. Chapter 6

I opened my eyes to see a black void; sitting up I saw that the emptiness surrounded me for as far as I could see. I sighed and pinched myself, seeing as my surroundings didn't suddenly fade away, I laid back down and closed my eyes again.

"Karakal, either come out, or I'm going back to sleep." I said to the darkness.

"Hmm… you're technically still asleep you know; I've explained to you before that this is simply just a manifestation within a spiritual dimension." said a smooth, prim voice.

"Yeah and I've explained to you that I couldn't care less." I opened my eyes again to see a man standing over me. He was thin, wearing a white suit, his face was dashing with swept-back black hair; the only feature that betrayed his inhuman origins was a pair of long pointed ears. He grinned as he extended his hand; I sighed and stood up, brushing myself off.

"All right, what are you selling this time?" the man smiled and waved his hand and a wooden table materialized out of nowhere, it was covered with plates stacked high with delicacies of every kind. He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair, and gestured to it. I rolled my eyes, but walked over and sat down, he smiled and walked over to the opposite side and sat as well. He poured wine out of a bottle and offered me a glass.

I took it, and sniffed it, before looking at him with a raised eyebrow, his smile widened.

"By hearth and hold, I offer this feast freely, may your path be wide and long in life and free of chains to hold you down." he inclined his head slightly to me, as I drank.

I smacked my lips and lowered the empty glass, "So then; what's your offer?"

The man waved a hand, and a piece of paper materialized, which he made a show of reading over. "According to my sources… you have been tracked by a Night Walker and some goons, the latter of which attacked you this night."

I grunted and grabbed the wine, I looked at the glass, shrugged; and then took a long pull from the bottle. "Alright, so I'm guessing that you know something about those clowns."

I guess I wasn't exactly surprised, from what I had gathered since attracting his attention after destroying a cult of the King in Yellow, Karakal was a powerful being from the Dreamlands; those kind of beings tended to be able to get their hands on information that wasn't obtainable by any other means.

He said nothing, but simply looked at me expectantly; I sighed, "C'mon, you know I'm not going to give you anything until I know that you have something worthwhile."

I leaned back and swirled the bottle casually; despite my nonchalant attitude, I was burning with curiosity… and was more than a little apprehensive; whenever he approached with information, it usually meant the situation was about to get even worse.

"For Whom the Bell Tolls." he said simply.

The blood in my veins froze and I stared at the being before me; his grin widened.

"I see I have your attention." he said.

My hands shook as I took another, much longer drink from the wine bottle, when I lowered it, the contents were easily half drained. Well, shoot, looks like he still had a perfect record for being the bearer of bad news. Scratch that, awful news; mind-bogglingly disastrous news. "I thought that… thing… was Dis' creature?"

He said nothing but simply extended an empty wine glass, I sighed and pulled out the flask of Mistralian Gold. I poured until the glass was full, then pulled it back and capped it.

The man swirled the glass before taking a deep sip, his eyes fluttering a little; he lowered the glass and set it aside stiffly. "It was… technically… one greater than her has called its loyalty once more… a being who had greater claim."

"And this being is?"

He shook his head, "Merely hearing his name would likely be… traumatizing for you. He is known as _The Dark Stalker_. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a… copy of sorts; one that, until very recently, Dis controlled as a part of an arrangement the two made that allowed it to stay within the mortal realms while its master and progenitor slept." he took another deep sip from the glass "Now apparently however, he has been awakened. He is the one who is helping to hide the _Devorahk_ from you; quite an excellent workaround that you came up with I must say. As for those goons…" he picked up the glass and drained it, then held it out to me.

I frowned and poured him another glass; he drank at it hungrily, setting down the glass, he grimaced. "I'm afraid we are running out of time; those goons were cultists of _That Which Relentlessly Waits Outside_ ; an Outer God of flames he is the one who has been behind most of the previous attempts by those on the outside to destroy you. Needless to say, _The Dark Stalker_ 's involvement has… complicated things. They sought you because they wish to summon their masters into this realm, the only way to do so is to sacrifice one of mortal blood who has struck a personal blow against an Outer God." he looked me in the eyes and grinned, "that list is rather short, and it would be quite a feather in any cultist or monster's cap to have you as a sacrifice." his face turned grim as he looked up sharply.

I followed his gaze noticed that cracks of white were beginning to appear overhead and light began to pour in, I squinted before the harsh radiance.

"It appears we're out of time Qrow; good luck." suddenly I felt a rush and the light washed over me.

My eyes snapped open to see Kali leaning over me, I looked around, we were in the room at the tavern, I was lying in the bed, and my forehead was cool from the wet rag that was draped there.

I heard a sigh of relief and my eyes turned back to the girl, who was leaning back in the chair, "About time, I was worried you were never going to wake up."

I groaned as I sat up, keeping the cool rag to my forehead; "Couldn't have that," I said, "I wouldn't be able to be the best at what I do if I was comatose."

She rolled her eyes, "Still on about that, I'd figure being taken down by a bunch of insects would have _stung_ your pride a little more."

I snorted, "Man, your constant puns really are starting to _bug_ me."

"Oh sweet merciful Maidens, that's just too painful" Orabella walked into the room carrying a large leather bag, she set it down on a table and began pulling out some jars. Rufus grunted and followed in, where he took his place next to his wife.

"I blame Qrow, he's a bad influence." Kali said as she leaned back casually in her chair.

Orabella glared at me; and I smirked, "C'mon, I've been on my best _bee_ havior around her." There was an explosive snort and I looked over at Rufus to see him covering his mouth, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Orabella looked disdainfully at her husband, "And now you've got my husband on it as well; no more puns or I swear to the Hearth that I'm going to nail your mouth shut. Now give me just a moment and you'll be right as rain." I shut my mouth, still grinning, the bear-Faunas examined one of the jars, then looked at me and shook her head. She set it back down and then examined the next one; this time she gave a sharp nod of approval. She grabbed hold and with a twist, uncapped the jar. Suddenly the room filled with a sharp smell… cinnamon; my breath caught in my throat slightly and my gaze fixated on the jar in her hand; as my mind went back to the past.

"Alright team STRQ!" Raven yelled as she waved grandiosely at the feast before them, "victory picnic!"

I grinned, and cheered with Taiyang and Summer, and we dug in, talking and laughing. We had just returned triumphantly from the Academy Grand Melee, a team based tournament that had the best of the best from all of the Hunter and Huntress schools in Remnant. While there had been an official celebration, that had been much more uptight; here, we could be ourselves and revel in our accomplishment as friends rather than students.

Soon all the food was eaten, but all of us were eyeing the box that Summer had carried here; finally she grinned and opened it. The smell of cinnamon wafted around the clearing that we had chosen for the picnic and we all sighed appreciatively.

She passed us each a large cookie; I looked at mine and smiled as I saw it was in the shape of my scythe, I looked around and saw that she had done the same with everyone's. Raven grinned as she grabbed the hilt of her 'blade' and waved it boisterously overhead, Summer smiled.

"Unfortunately I can't make them transform, but I think I did them justice" she said.

"Just what we expect from Summer," I remarked, "she represents the _cutting edge_ of fine baking."

There was collective groan around the clearing, Raven playfully whacked me on the head and raised her cookie.

"A toast! To the coolest team in Beacon and, now officially all of Remnant!" she yelled, I joined in the cheers and we ate, the cinnamon biting on my tongue.

I came crashing back into the present, and quickly began rubbing my face to hide the rapidly forming tears. I would never have guessed how that 'coolest team ever' would end; Summer was dead now. Killed by Raven's stupid choices; I still hadn't really forgiven her, Taiyang… or myself. I should have seen it coming; should have seen the signs, but I hadn't; and I had to remember that each and every time I looked Ruby in the eye. Worse, I remembered that when I looked Yang in the eye, and saw that same fire that had turned so bitter in her mother.

I shook my head, breaking out of my reverie, and I looked at Orabella, who was staring off into the distance. Suddenly she shook herself, and tears filled her eyes, "Oh Qrow dearie," she whispered.

I got up, my limbs were filled with new energy, and I easily jumped out of the bed, I grunted as I tapped my foot experimentally. I looked at the bear faunas and her husband, "You two are cultists aren't you?" I asked quietly.

She set down the jar, putting the lid back on with a sharp twist and suddenly the smell vanished, "I wouldn't really use the term _cultist_ myself dearie; negative connotations. I would say more of… followers, we worship Hestia."

I frowned, "Huh… Goddess of the Hearth, guess that explains some things." I stretched and walked over to begin gathering my things.

"Wait, what?" asked Kali as she looked between Rufus and Orabella.

I nodded toward the jar in the bear-faunas' hands, "That balm is a healing agent, but not a conventional one, it uses the wielder's anima in order to heal someone." I looked to Orabella, who said nothing, but was simply looking at me. I jerked my gaze away angrily and closed my pack; "It also let's them see things that are _private_ ; and that I don't wish to discuss" I growled and grabbed my sword. "C'mon Kali, we should get going." She still looked slightly confused, but nodded, and then bowed slightly to Orabella and her husband. "Thank you for your hospitality." she said and followed me to the door.

I nodded at Orabella, "I'm sorry that I brought those goons here, I didn't think that we were followed. I'd be willing to reimburse you for the damages when you get an assessment."

Orabella snorted, "Qrow… I know what kind of… things, those were; Remnant's better off for their absence." She nodded at her husband, "Besides, how Rufus tells it; we owe you and the lass."

Suddenly to my shock, Rufus opened his mouth, "Aye, thass right." he looked at me and his eyes twinkled beneath his bushy eyebrows, "besides, I enjoy me some carpentin' work; be a good time tah renovate."

His wife raised an eyebrow, "You mean you need somethin' to get you off your lazy arse."

Rufus smiled and nodded to her, but said nothing; I snorted and shook my head.

"You can thank Kali for that," I patted her on the shoulder, "if it wasn't for her windstorm, I think we might've both bit the dust."

Orabella nodded to her, "Rufus told the lass as much, but she insists that she only arrived there at the end." she leaned over and rummaged around in the bag; she pulled out a small container, stood up and handed it to Kali.

"Here's somethin' to thank you, unfortunately I couldn't fit the whole roast in, but it should tide you over on the road."

Kali waved her hand, "Oh no I couldn't…"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm the one who covers for your meals; do it as a favor to me."

Kali stuck out her tongue at me, then bowed her head to Orabella and grabbed the container, which she put into her bag "Thanks." she murmured.

Orabella beamed, "Like I said, think nothin' of it lass, feel free to visit Rufus and I anytime you need someplace to stay."

We said our farewells and walked out onto the city street; Kali turned to me, "So… we're going to that tower?"

I nodded, "That tower is Beacon Academy, and I have a hunch who we're looking for." I felt apprehension weigh down on me as I looked toward the school. There was a distinct feeling of destiny as I thought about all of the memories that I had of that place… for better or for worse.

I uncapped my flask and took a large gulp. People ask me why I drink; here's one reason; destiny has a sick sense of humor. Trust me when I say that sometimes you need to be knock out drunk to appreciate it and laugh along.


	7. Chapter 7

I sighed as I leaned back my seat; gaze fixed on the small tv screens in the airship. The transport was much more crowded than usual. With the Vytal Festival going on; there was a large fairground just outside the school. People made a holiday of it; touring the Academy that trained the Hunters and Huntresses that kept them safe; then hanging out at the fairgrounds between the matches. Airships would be nearby; ready to transport people to the Coliseum.

I watched as a girl wielding a hammer pummeled four competitors into the barrier; they slammed into it and then sprawled to the ground in a twitching heap.

"And with that, it appears Team Juniper wins by knockout. Literally." The crowd roared their approval; and I grimaced knocking back another quaff from the flask in his hand.

"Huh those kids weren't half bad." remarked Kali beside me; as the announcer asked someone to make sure that the fallen students were okay.

"Meh." I remarked grouchily as I took another drink. The blonde kid… Jaune… reminded me too much of Taiyang. An incompetent surrounded by far more impressive allies. That Nikos kid was talented; looked like she could really be an incredible Huntress one day. Nora and Ren appeared to be above average; I could easily imagine them being a formidable duo; but him?

I shrugged; it might work out, I thought; after all, Taiyang had only gotten one teammate killed and the other...

I growled under my breath and drained the flask, Kali looked at me and frowned; "You okay Qrow?"

I shrugged, "Yeah… fine… just… got a bit of a headache." which, truth be told; was the primary reason that I was a bit grumpy at the moment. I put the empty flask away and pulled out a fresh one; popping it open, I took a swig as I watched the next match in growing disbelief.

I couldn't tell whether this Neptune kid from Team Sun was sandbagging or there was some sort of other drama going on; but he just kind of stood off to the side as his team desperately fought their opponents. The person directing the cameras didn't seem to quite know what to do about the development either. As it would occasionally dart over to him occasionally to see what he was doing. About halfway through, they apparently just gave up and focussed their attention onto the Wukong kid. I had to admit; though his form betrayed his lack of training; he had a ton of natural talent.

The match ended anti-climatically a few moments later; the remaining team members of Team Indigo were electrocuted as Neptune stabbed his electrostaff into the water.

Kali whistled as she leaned back in her chair, "Now that was a match." she declared. There was a general murmur of agreement; though I noted this was mostly from the female passengers.

"Pssh. That was a mess." I said before I could stop myself; I groaned slightly as the pain in my head redoubled and I took another stiff drink.

"C'mon Qrow; you haven't enjoyed any of the fights," she pouted beside me.

I let out a sigh as my headache slowly receded; "The fights will get better once they get down to the doubles." I grunted in response, I took another swig from the flask, "Less dead weight." I continued sourly, thinking of the Arc kid.

She seemed to think about that, then leaned over, "So, the plan is go and tell Ozpin then find the Chosen One for the Devorahk right?" she whispered into my ear.

"Yeah pretty much," I replied, keeping my voice quiet.

"Any idea on where to start?" she asked.

I flinched a little, feeling as though a knife had just been thrust into my gut, "Yeah." I replied, my voice slightly bitter.

She frowned and looked at me, concern in her eyes.

I waved her off, "Don't worry about me; just keep your eyes out for trouble."

At that point; the pilot's voice came over the intercom, "We are now arriving at Beacon Academy; please watch your step and make sure to collect all of your personal belongings before leaving the aircraft. We wish you a pleasant day, happy Vytal Festival!"

A slight shudder ran through the aircraft's frame as it landed and its engines slowly wound down. The hatch opened a few seconds later; and I squinted at the bright daylight. We followed the crowd down the ramp and beside me Kali gasped as the Academy came into view.

"It's… beautiful." she whispered beside me.

I glanced over the soaring towers and twisting spires; considering she was from the backwoods of Mistral, I supposed the Academy would look pretty ornate.

I pulled her off to the side to let the rest of the passengers disembark as Kali gawked at the architecture around her. Finally I tapped her on the shoulder, "You done looking it over? I'm gonna need you to keep your head in the game."

She rolled her eyes at me, "Quit being so flighty." she quipped back at me.

I was about to open my mouth to deliver a crushing reply; when my gaze snapped onto a familiar face in the crowd; a woman that was being escorted down the path by several robots with heavy rifles.

Kali noticed the sudden change, "Are you okay Qrow? Qrow?" she asked, her voice growing worried as I marched off with a purpose.

I walked up to two of the androids that were following the woman, and I grabbed them by their heads, giving a sharp twist. I got the strangest feeling of deja vu as the androids' heads came off and I casually tossed to roll on the ground a few paces from her feet. I blinked as I stood there, trying to sort out whether I had actually done this before; I shrugged, I had probably been drunk then too.

"Hey!" I called out. The woman turned, to face me, "Yeah, I'm talking to you… Ice Queen." I heaved one of the android's headless bodies off to the side, where it crashed limply in a heap.

"Halt!" she called out, and the android who had been marching up stopped in its tracks, although it kept its gun leveled at me menacingly.

"Excuse me!" said the girl who had been walking with her; she stormed up and glared up at me, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Sshhh." I said, as I condescendingly patted her head, "Not you." I shoved her aside, and began walking up to the woman behind her; who continued to glare at me.

"You." I said and did my best to imitate her glare. "I guess you're here too." I remarked.

"I'm standing right before you." she said. I realized then my gaze was a little off and I leaned forward and squinted; trying to resolve my slightly blurred vision. It was at that point that I realized that I was more than a little plastered; but I was committed now.

"So it would seem." I replied eventually.

"You realize that you just destroyed Atlas military property." she accused.

"Oh… oohh… I'm sorry, see, I mistook this for… sentient garbage." I replied, staggering slightly.

The woman frowned severely, "I have no time for your immature games Qrow. It's only because of Ozpin's influence that you aren't imprisoned. After what that bitch-"

Okay, so… I'm a cool guy, I keep my cool. However, hearing this… woman... talk about my sister; _might_ have been a bit much in my current stance. The next thing I knew, I was slashing away at her, blood pounding in my ears. She calmly deflected my frenzied blows; a thin smile on her face.

"Qrow! What the hell are you doing?" I heard Ozpin's voice through the roar and I froze mid swing. I guiltily looked past my opponent's shoulder to see him marching up, Glynda at his side. The woman pulled back her blade and sheathed it, stepping smartly aside. I lowered my blade and swayed slightly, as he walked up to me.

"Come with me… now." he said severely, I turned over my shoulder and waved to Kali. Who nodded and followed closely; as we walked to the Academy.

* * *

We rode the elevator in silence, Kali nervously fidgeted beside me as she glanced over at Glynda and Ozpin, the former gave her a single glance over before turning her gaze forward once more. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, Ozpin marched over to his desk and sat down with a sigh. I sauntered out; Kali following close behind me; Glynda walked over to the desk to stand beside the desk and turned to eye me critically.

Ozpin leaned back in his chair, "Alright then Qrow, why are you here?" he demanded.

"I came to report to you." I answered belligerently.

"You'll have to explain to me how 'reporting' to me involves attacking a member of the Atlesian military right out in the open for the world to see." he shook his head, "Damnit Qrow, what were you thinking?"

"She started it." I replied.

"Oh really? According to the security footage, you destroyed her bodyguard first."

I shrugged, "What? Are you seriously going to defend them? After what they've been doing?"

Ozpin sighed, "Look, I don't agree with Ironwood's methods, but he's afraid, and he wants to know more about the things we face. They-"

I angrily slashed my hand to cut him off, "They're messing with the same crap that Raven did! They've ignored both of our warnings; what makes them think that they'll have any different results?"

Ozpin pounded his fist on the desk, "I've told you, I don't agree with his methods, but that does not give you the right to start a war with them. Am I clear?"

I frowned, "Oz, I-"

"Am I clear?" he demanded.

I sighed, "Yes sir." I said begrudgingly.

He leaned back and took a deep sip from his mug, "Alright," he said finally, "what do you have to report?"

"We were right, the Devorahk is coming." I said simply

Glynda took in a sharp breath; Ozpin's eyes grew hooded and he leaned forward.

"All of the texts state that we should have had some indication about where, when and who would be selected." Ozpin murmured.

I nodded, "Apparently, a being known _The Dark Stalker,"_ I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me and I frowned, damn that's right I hadn't briefed her, I continued. "Has been helping hide that information from us."

Ozpin grunted at that, "Your source for this information is… reliable?"

I jerked a thumb back at Kali, "She told me about it first, apparently half human, half monsters can sense it still; so theoretically it's just the human part that's blind to it. The second source…" I thought about how to describe Karakal, "... has given good information in the past; considering what I know about him; it makes sense that he would side with us on this."

Ozpin nodded to the woman behind me, "And what would be your name?" he inquired politely.

"Kali… Kali Aristeas." she replied nervously.

"Miss Aristeas; I'm sorry, but due to your… nature, I would ask that you give your word that you shall harm no one on the school grounds without permission from Qrow, Glynda, or myself." he pulled a box out from his desk and opened it to reveal a small stone, which he held out to her. She nodded, then walked up and laid her hand upon the stone, "Do you, Kali Aristeas, swear to do no harm to those on the grounds of Beacon Academy, without permission from Qrow Branwen, Glynda Goodwitch, or myself?" he asked.

"Save for with the permission of those individuals or self defense, I do swear." she replied, Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the addition, but said nothing as the stone glowed softly, before fading out. He put the stone back in the box and put the container back in the drawer; closing it shut. "Thank you Miss Aristeas; now… you claim to be able to sense the recipient of the Devorahk?" She nodded sharply in reply; "Can you sense the time and place?"

Kali shook her head, "Other than it's very close no."

Ozpin nodded at that, "And you've detected that it's someone at this school?"

She nodded, "Yes, it is someone currently at this school, I'm sure I could tell if I could examine them for a bit."

Ozpin considered that, "Qrow, you and Kali will attempt to find the person who is to be chosen, then bring them to me immediately; and for goodness sake, be discreet about it. If Ironwood finds out this, there'll be hell to pay."

I nodded dourly, "C'mon Kali, I think I know where we can start."

* * *

A few minutes later, I was outside a plain wooden door, I raised my hand to knock, then let it drop and paced in front of the door for a bit. I stopped, let out a deep breath, and walked up the door once more, I had half raised my fist, when the door opened a crack, "what's the password." a voice whispered.

I grinned, and leaned down, "Ultra Awesome Fighting Ninjas 2: Soaring Ninja's Revenge."

The door shot open to reveal a beaming Ruby, who lifted up the disk case exuberantly, "I challenge you old man!" she yelled. Then she frowned and looked behind me, "Who's this Uncle Qrow?" she asked.

"This is Kali, she's…" I paused, "she's a friend of mine." I explained.

Ruby marched up to her and extended a hand, "Hello Miss Kali! I'm Ruby Rose, you can call me Ruby!"

Kali smiled and took her hand and shook it, 'Pleased to meet you Ruby." she said.

"Any friend of Uncle Qrow is a friend of ours!" declared Yang as she walked into view, she grinned at me. "You ready to get your butt kicked old man?"

A few moments later, I was tapping frantically on the gamepad, Kali sat and watched on the bed; cheering whenever Ruby scored a hit. I occasionally looked over to stick out my tongue in reply; but Ruby immediately took advantage of such times to knock down some of my health.

Eventually, I looked smugly over at Ruby as my character stood triumphantly over his fallen foe, "Soaring Ninja: Wins!" declared the game over the speakers. Ruby pouted a little, but Yang bumped her out of the way and grabbed the controller, "All right old man, ready to lose?"

"Hey, not cool." I grouched, but then immediately concentrated on the match; and soon I was lost in it, as we traded jab and counter-jab.

"Soo… Uncle Qrow; why were you fighting Winter?" Ruby suddenly asked me.

I froze momentarily; and Yang's character immediately moved in and pummeled my character down.

"You know her?" I asked.

"She's one of our teammate's sister… Weiss." explained Ruby.

I rubbed the back of my neck, "We… have our disagreements…" I explained, "Plus she-" I looked over sharply at Yang, "said some things she shouldn't have." I finished lamely. I lowered my gaze as I considered what to say next, "Look… you two should be careful around Winter and General Ironwood; they… they're involved in some things that no one should be messing with."

The two exchanged a look, and I saw Kali jerk her head at the door out of the corner of my eye. I sighed as I stood up, "Well, I should get going; an old man like me shouldn't be hanging out with kids… you'll cramp my style." I struggled for something more to say, "There's going to be rough times ahead… but you two will be fine… so long as you stay together and keep learning, alright?" they both nodded to me, confusion in their eyes.

I turned and opened the door, "Ciao," I said, and walked out the door; Kali followed close behind. She turned and closed it, and we walked down the hall a ways, and then I quickly checked to make sure no one was around, then turned to her. "So which one of them is it?" I asked, my heart full of dread.

"That's the thing Qrow…" she said, and then paused.

Suddenly I grew angry, "Just spit it out; which… one… is it?"

Kali looked at me with worried eyes, "I looked them over… neither of them is the One."

"Neither of them is…" I suddenly felt lightheaded as relief washed over me… I won't say that I passed out… but suddenly my eyes rolled and I felt myself falling, everything went to black.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When I came to I opened my eyes to see a small black and white dog standing on top of me; panting happily as it stared into my face.

I gave a start and quickly pushed it off of me, "That's rude Uncle Qrow; Zwei was just worried about you!" remarked Yang.

I grimaced as I stood up; and did my best to look away from the… Corgi. Alright, so you know how sometimes _some_ relatives forget about birthdays and desperately get a last minute gift? So basically I found Zwei after busting a cultist group in Solitas that was attempting to create the 'perfect weapon'. After I cleared them out, I found the dog in the middle of a ritual circle; with an inscription that roughly read; 'The two that shall become one; and in the one the many' in the old tongue surrounding it. I was bringing it along to give to Ozpin to study it, when I got sidetracked because I had forgotten that it was Ruby's birthday. So there I was at the house, the potentially eldritch-dog-thing trapped in a seal, Professor Port challenged me to a drinking challenge. By the time the contest had finished; I won of course. I turned back to find that it had escaped, which by the way, is impossible. I desperately searched the house to find Rwby giggling as the thing was climbing all over her; with a big tag that read, ;From: Uncle Qrow, To: Ruby' on a collar around its neck. I was waayyy too drunk at that point to have handwriting that legible and I had glared at the beast as it stared blankly at me.

"Thanks soooo much Uncle Qrow!" Ruby screamed in delight as she snuggled with the creature. "Does he have a name?" she asked, turning her big, round, shining eyes to me.

So I sat there for a moment, when for some reason I just out let the word for 'two' in the old tongue, Zwei. Her face was just so frickin' happy, and Tai-Yang looked so upset, that I couldn't bring myself to take it away from her. I ended up cashing in a favor with a reliable source who told me that it appeared to be some kind of guardian construct. Apparently I have golden timing because the bonding hadn't been conducted yet. He still advised me to keep an eye on it to make sure it stayed, 'stable'.

Soooo… yeah; I decided that obviously the best way to keep an eye on it was to give it to a Huntress… and tell Ozpin that it had vanished into thin air somehow. I get off the hook, the... dog, gets a loving owner, and Tai-Yang gets pissed at me; but can't bear to take it away from her… I call that a win.

Still though, those dead eyes sometimes remind me of all the crazy stuff that had been going on in that lab; and so yeah, I've never really been too fond of it. I stretched and rolled my neck; "Are you okay Uncle Qrow?" asked, her face full of worry.

I waved her off, "Yeah, just a bit tired from my mission that's all. You know how much old guys like me need their beauty sleep."

Yang crossed her arms and grinned at me, "Somehow I doubt anything about you sleeping has anything to do with beauty, I bet you snore like a chainsaw."

I glared at her, "Hey, I do not snore."

Kali looked at me and then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially to the girl, "He totally does."

Yang chuckled and I rolled my eyes, "Anyway, I'll be heading off, you two take care of yourselves, alright?"

"Will do!" Ruby said and she picked up Zwei and walked back inside.

As soon as she did, Yang turned to me, her expression serious, "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked softly.

I gave her a confident smile and a thumbs up, "Hey, it's me." when she looked unconvinced I sighed, "like I said, don't worry about me." I quickly glanced out of the corner of my eyes to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then leaned in close, "I will need you to keep an eye out though, okay? If Ozpin and I are right, then there might be some very bad things happening soon, you take care of each other, alright?"

Yang's eyes darted between Kali and myself; then she nodded with a grin. Giving me a mock salute, she turned around and walked back into her room; leaving Kali and I alone in the hallway.

Kali shifted uneasily and lowered her gaze, "I'm sorry, I guess I kind of popped that on you."

I shrugged, "Not your fault, I was the one demanding that you answer; I guess that I just was so convinced." I turned and began walking briskly down the hall, deep in thought; Kali tagged along silently behind me.

"Alright, so this is how it's gonna go." I said finally, "We've got to find out who this Chosen One is asap. That detection of yours… is it giving us a direction at this point?"

She tilted her head slightly, as though listening for a faint sound, then nodded slightly. "It was kind of overwhelming at first, being at this academy; I'm guessing it has something to do with the sheer amount of Aura here."

I nodded, "That'd make sense, but are you saying then that…"

She nodded, "It's getting more fine tuned; I think that I'll be able to give us general directions; and certainly I'll know if they leave." we exited the building and she pointed toward the distant fair grounds. "That seems to be where it's coming from right now; I'm sure that if I can get close enough, I can hone in on it."

I looked toward the crowds and stands; then looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Admit it, you're just hungry again." She said nothing, but just smiled and began walking forward; I grunted, "Fine, but don't go overboard okay; I can feel my wallet get lighter every time."

"C'mon, you're a bachelor; what are you gonna use it for anyway?" she asked over her shoulder.

I held a hand to my chest, as though wounded, "Oh c'mon, don't get _ahead_ of yourself; I'll have you know that I was thinking about buying a boat."

She stopped and turned, "A boat? Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"You seriously haven't gotten any water-related phobias from your line of work?" she asked.

I grimaced, "Hey… I'm pretty sure there's some puddle somewhere that isn't going to be used by crazy cultists."

"You'd be surprised." she said sourly, as she sat down at a noodle stall.

I chuckled and settled onto the seat next to her.

"Also, I think you're starting to get slim _peckings_ on your pool of puns." she said, punching me lightly on the shoulder.

"Ah c'mon don't-." The curtain to the back of the food stall parted and the owner stepped forward; it was an elderly old man, the top of his head was bald, but gray hair was on his sideburns and the back of his head. He bowed silently and smiled.

I leapt back, knocking over my chair, pulling out my scythe as I did so. I leveled the weapon at him and glared. In response his grin widened and cocked his head to the side.

"Qrow?! What the hell are you doing?" Kali demanded.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" I snarled at him.

He said nothing but walked forward and leaned on the bar. Suddenly a voice echoed inside my head, a prim and proper voice that oozed with mockery.

"Yes, let's cut down the poor, defenseless old man… come now Qrow… take a seat." The Shopkeep's face never changed as this happened, but I knew he was the one who was speaking. There was no mistaking this man, and I trusted him as far as I could throw him… which would be not far at all; despite his small and elderly exterior.

The voice in my head sighed, "Fine, by fire and hearth, by spring and water, I swear to do no harm, for thou is on my hearth. Now sit down and stop making a scene, also, think your responses to me if you please, it puts less strain on me that way."

I reluctantly lowered my weapon and righted my seat, and warily lowered myself into it. The Shopkeep reached under the counter and passed us two menus; which Kali accepted gratefully, I accepted mine and glanced over it.

So where do I begin… first off, when I say, The Shopkeep, I do mean that in the proper noun way. It's a title of sorts, second, 'he' isn't human, not by a long shot. As far as I can tell, he's the avatar of a being whose name, of course, is beyond human comprehension. To say that we've had our differences in the past is putting it mildly. He also has the unnatural ability to make everyone trust him and ignore the fact that he's spread his existence into multiple shops. I first encountered him in Mistral; where he had taken over a Dust shop, a men's clothing store, a shoe store, and a fishing store. He had turned violent when I had asked whether they were all identical twins or something.

We had fought, I had won but barely, and apparently I hadn't destroyed him like I had thought. However, his vow would protect me from any hostile action of any kind from him for a week, it was one of the more powerful vows that under no circumstances would he break. The Goddess of Oaths got pretty miffed about that sort of thing. So I perused the menu, and eventually decided on a simple beef and noodles bowl. Kali had the same, with extra meat, and The Shopkeep went into the back to begin cooking.

I turned to Kali, "So you see absolutely nothing strange about him?" I asked.

She frowned at me, "Seriously, do you draw your weapon against every single old man that runs a noodle shop?"

I sighed, "I guess I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Indeed Mister Branwen." The voice whispered into my head. "In fact, earlier, I served your daughter, who has treated me quite kindly prior. It was rather cute how she prevented the robbery of my new Dust shop a while back."

"My daughter? You mean Ruby?" I shook my head, "She's my niece, I guess for an eldritch freak familial ties get a bit confusing."

The voice laughed, "She wields a scythe, has a flowing cape, and manages to find herself at the crossroads of events beyond her comprehension by pure matter of chance. Oh yes, she's really modeled herself after that blonde hussy."

I snorted a little and clapped my hand to my mouth to stop myself from laughing too hard. Okay, maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

"Really, I would hope that the Guardian of Remnant would be a tad more mature. In any case, as this usually goes, we're short on time." the Shopkeep emerged from the back and set two large bowls down in front of us. Kali let out a happy sigh and began chowing down, I set to it at a more leisurely pace.

"You are hunting for the one who will receive the blessing of Remnant; the good news is that he is close. The bad news, is that others are hunting as we speak. They are closing in, I have narrowed it down to among these four, they came to my shop as well and should still be around here somewhere."

An image formed in my head, it was of that JNPR team, Nora, Ren… Jaune… my eyes widened, Pyrrha Nikos. Well, she certainly had the talent for it, but a part of me was kind of bummed out for the kid, she was too damn young to have this kind of responsibility thrust upon her. A part of me felt guilty that I was relieved at this confirmation that it wasn't my nieces, but I quickly shove that out of my mind.

"Hah! Too young to have that kind of responsibility he says. You humans have no idea, I know of some worlds that would view you as a toddler." The Shopkeep glanced from side to side, "I will help you no further, I have no wish to be drawn into this struggle. Finish your noodles, then find them; do not fear, you have time enough for that." His gaze drifted to Kali, "A priestess of Kir'Ala working with one favored of Sarongar; how droll…" he turned and went back behind the curtain once more.

Kali picked up her bowl and began slurping it down; I took another bite, but found that I had lost much of my appetite. I shoved it back a bit and leaned back head backwards and let out a massive sigh.

"Are you gonna finish that?" Kali asked. I waved my hand, and she picked it up and soon that bowl too was emptied. "Ahhh! That hit the spot! Alright, we ready to go?"

"Yeah, and I got a lead. You know that Team JNPR team?"

She frowned, "The one from that fight we saw on the way here? The one with that Nikos kid?"

"Yeah." I said, as my eyes began scanning the crowd.

She pointed, "I think they might be in trouble." and suddenly a scream rent the air.

My eyes turned toward the direction of the scream and began charging forward; pulling out my scythe as I did so. Most of the people were milling around in confusion; but there were also Hunters and Huntresses in the crowd that were beginning to converge on the sound as well.

Kali ran beside me, "I can see them; there's four of them… but there's something wrong…"

"I'm guessing that when you say that it doesn't mean that they've decided to form a peace circle and sing 'kumbaya'."

She bit her lip betraying her nervousness, "They're… blurry… I can't tell what they are."

I frowned and mentally prepared myself for the worst; finally we reached the spot; tents were knocked over and the stalls were upended; their wares scattered everywhere.

I blinked in confusion; the attackers were Grimm; specifically three Beowolves that roared as a Huntress that I recognized as Pyrrha slashed at them; her comrades stood by her side and helped her slowly push the Grimm back. It was a common tactic for containing Grimm in crowded places. Seeing them perform it so efficiently made my respect for them grow a little; it was one thing to be taught this kind of maneuver, it was quite another to execute it so calmly in an actual combat situation. I darted around left and lunged at the Grimm's unprotected flank. It howled as the blow connected, and it fell limply to the ground.

The other two turned to me in fury; but that left them exposed to the students in front of them. Soon, they had all fallen to the ground; the crowd cheered and I gave them a small wave in acknowledgement. I walked over to Pyrrha and offered her a hand; she took it and we shook.

"Great work there Nikos; you did your school proud." I said.

She blushed, "It's great to receive such praise from a Hunter like yourself." she replied, "Ruby's told me so much about you."

I glanced back at Kali, who nodded, I leaned in close, "You should come with me." I whispered, "There's something very important that I need to talk with you about."

She looked confused, but nodded, my gaze rose and flicked over to the still corpses of the Grimm. Time seemed to freeze as some thoughts raced across my mind, Kali had said they were 'blurry', and Grimm bodies dissolved far faster than this.

I began shoving Pyrrha aside even as the closest Grimm's eyes opened wide. It shifted and its form seemed to lose consistency, suddenly a massive black tentacle emerged from its midsection and lashed out; but not in the direction I expected.

The Arc kid was talking with his teammates and his attention was fixed on their conversation when some sixth sense seemed to warn him. At the last possible moment; his eyes drifted and widened in shock, he brought his shield up and the bizarre limb slammed into it, sending him flying.

The Grimm on the ground began bubbling and twisting; meshing into one mass that began to rise; black and oozing. More tentacles began emerging, lashing out violently; a single eye floated to the surface around the top and its blazing red gaze latched onto the Hunter.

With a burbling screech, it flowed forward, toward the Hunter who was shakily standing up a short distance away.

I yelled out a challenge and slashed at the creature in a vicious overhead arc. My scythe connected, and the thing's foul flesh parted easily. I grunted as it encountered a sudden resistance and yanked at my weapon. I cursed as it remained stuck in the side of the creature, who continued moving, barely even paying me any heed as it moved toward its target.

I looked around, desperate, when my gaze fell upon a man in a jester's outfit; blazing torches held in one hand as he stared at the scene in horror.

I ran up to him, "Mind if I borrow these?" I asked as I grabbed them from his numbed grasp. He babbled something in reply, I ignored him and dashed back to the monstrosity, who was still rumbling unceasingly toward the Hunter; despite his teammates best attempts to stop it.

I raised my thumb to my mouth and bit it, drawing blood that I dropped into the flames; they flared up and their color abruptly changed into a deep, blood-red hue.

With a roar, I threw the torches at the beast; at first it ignored the flames as the torches stuck to its flesh. Then it paused, only a few paces away from the Arc boy, who had his shield and sword raised in a defiant stance. It let out a squeal and the flames abruptly flared over its entire body, I hid my face from the heat and watched as the beast writhed and shrunk.

After what seemed like an eternity, the thing collapsed on itself until it was nothing more than a puddle of sludge that bubbled slowly. Finally even that puddle faded away, leaving nothing but the scorched grass in its wake.

Kali walked up to me, wide-eyed, "Those flames… you're."

I grimaced, "Yeah, yeah, I know how this looks, but basically, all that it boils down to is that Saron'gar owes me a few favors."

She stared at me, then let out a barking laugh, "The elemental lord of fire, The World Scorcher; one of the single most hungry and power-crazy beings in existence, 'just owes you a few favors'?"

I shrugged, "Pretty much yeah."

She shook her head, "Sometime you're gonna have to tell me the story of how you managed to live through that."

I nodded, "Yeah." I replied, staring past her.

She followed my gaze, "Do I even have to say anything?" she asked.

"They were sent here to hunt down the Chosen One, the one who would be chosen in the Devorahk." I said, "We knew it was someone from Team JNPR, but they didn't target Pyrrha, they targeted…"

Jaune Arc stepped gingerly around the patch of scorched earth in front of him, and he looked up to see us staring at him. He winced and waved at us awkwardly; there was no way, I had to be mistaken; maybe they made a mistake.

That's when the sky opened up; blinding everyone with its brilliance.


	9. Chapter 9

I opened my eyes and gazed at the stars, Raven was silent beside me as we stared at those distant pinpoints of life. In the distance I could hear the tribe as they sang around the fire, the distant melodies hung over us, giving the night an ethereal feeling.

"Do you believe in fate? Like that things happen for a reason?" My sister asked suddenly. I frowned and mulled that over, "Or even that things that are meant to happen will happen and nothing we can do can change?" She continued.

I snorted, "There's no point in thinking about that.." I replied.

"Oh?" She rolled over to look at me, "Why's that?"

"Well like, so if I decide to cut down a tree for firewood, and somebody comes up and tells me that if I do that then my house will burn down. I chop down the tree anyway and get the firewood, then my house burns down because I do something dumb, like drop a lit match on some Dust or something. Is that fate? Or is that because I'm a dumbass?"

"I mean, you're definitely a dumbass." She quipped at me. I stuck out my tongue at her and she chuckled. "Hmm, I guess you've got a point though. What about the really random stuff? Like if a big rock just fell from the sky and fell right… here." She reached over and flicked me right between the eyes.

I batted her hand away, grinning, "Then you're unlucky."

"So you don't believe in fate, but you believe in luck?"

I frowned, "I guess, yeah, just kind of stuff that you couldn't do anything about or predict, you just kind of… make a choice, like in that case lying down in the middle of a field. That's luck."

She seemed to think about that, then rolled over on her back to stare up at the stars once more, "The view's nice enough that I think I'll risk it." she stated.

I grinned, "Hey, maybe you're lucky."

She laughed at that, "Qrow, you're the luckiest person I know, if you're safe out here, I am too."

We said nothing more and simply watched the stars overhead.

* * *

Today I wasn't feeling particularly lucky, as the spots cleared from my eyes and I saw Jaune Arc shake himself and turn to stare at me. I sighed and looked around, sure enough, everyone else was frozen, save for Kali who was rubbing her eyes. I sighed and pulled out a flask and took a drink as she looked around in confusion before turning to me, a single eyebrow raised.

"Don't ask me. It's their shtick." I took another gulp from the flask.

"'Their' shtick? Who's 'they'?" She asked.

"The people who gave me this job." I looked at the blonde kid who was still staring at me, his eyes wide, he tentatively took a step forward and then looked around at his frozen teammates. I sighed, "Apparently they also have a hell of a sense of humor."

Kali turned her gaze to Jaune, who was currently waving a hand in front of Pyrrha's face. "Uh-huh… so clarify this for me… the Devorahk is the sacred event that selects a Chosen One in order to fight against a renewed wave of darkness and destruction from outside the world right?"

"That's right."

She turned to me, "So one would assume that because that's kind of a big deal, the person chosen would be an adult for one."

I shook my head, "Actually, from what Ozpin and I have gathered, that's not really the case, it's often a younger person that has great potential."

She glanced over at Jaune, who was now starting to freak out a little as his efforts to get his teammates to move or talk weren't working out. He grabbed Pyrrha by the arm and pulled, his face grew strained as the girl didn't even budge, he then grabbed her arm with both hands and leaned into it. Suddenly his grip slipped and he fell onto his back with an audible _thud_.

"Right… but still… considering all that's on the line, is it wrong that I'm _really_ hoping that this is some kind of joke?"

I put the flask away, "No, no it's not," I watched the kid struggle a bit, then go limp as he fell unconscious. I sighed heavily, my mind made up, "That's it, I'm gonna go to the people in charge and lodge a complaint."

She turned to me, "What? You mean you can do that?"

I shrugged, "Don't know, never tried."

I walked over to where the Arc kid was lying still on his back as he started to come to. I leaned over him and sighed as his eyes shot wide.

"Qrow! The woman told me about you! You've gotta help me, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, they're frozen or something!" He blabbered as he stood up.

"Yeah, look around for a sec kid." I told him.

He did so and his eyes went so wide, I would swear they were going to pop out of his skull, "Oh my gosh, uh… so is everyone like this except the four of us?" he asked as Kali waved at him.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, exac-." I frowned, "Wait, four?"

"Is he not with you?" He asked, pointing to somewhere behind me.

It's as I was turning around that a couple of things sprung into my head, most importantly that earlier Kali had said that she had seen four blurry figures.

There had only been three Grimm.

I saw a figure walking between the merchant stalls in the distance, from here I couldn't make out much about its features except that it was wearing a heavy black cloak with a hood worn over its head.

What made my hairs stand up on end and nearly scared me straight sobriety and back, was that I heard the far-off ringing of a giant pendulum bell.

I turned to the others, "We've got to get out of here fast." I told them.

"So not with you?" Jaune asked, his voice getting a little squeaky.

"Why don't you go ask him and see what happens?" I snarled as my gaze darted around the merchant stalls. If memory served, there was an entrance to Agartha a little ways from the school. I decided on a direction and began running, "Follow me!" I shouted.

Thankfully the kid got the hint when Kali immediately began running after me and started booking it. We ran out of the tent and stand lined alleyway and out into an open meadow, I looked around and my eyes fell upon a stand of trees growing in a circle.

I waved the others to follow me as I dashed over to the circle. I reached the first tree and desperately ran my hands over it, damn, nothing. I moved onto the next one as the sound of the bell became louder.

"What is that noise?" Jaune asked, his voice squeaky with fear.

"An inexhaustible hunter from the Outer Realms that wants to take your soul and slice it up for dinner." I replied.

His eyes grew wide, "You're joking right?" he looked to Khali, "Please tell me he's joking…"

She didn't reply but instead was looking over one of the trees, "What am I looking for?" she asked.

"If you listen you'll hear a kind of buzzing sometimes, particularly with a nature attuned Conduit like this one. Knocking helps, if you reach out then you'll feel a kind of pull when you draw your hand away."

"Reach out with what?!" She screamed at me as the sound of the bell rang in our ears.

"Um… does it look kind of like a massive tree? With a whole bunch of huge twisting branches?"

I frowned and looked over at Jaune, who was pointing at one of the trees. I walked over and put my hand up against it, sure enough, it was the Conduit." I looked over at the kid, who laid his on the tree next to mine and suddenly the wood started to churn and twist.

Well damn, I thought as the Conduit activated fully and golden light began to pour outward. "Get in!" I yelled, and pushed Jaune forward, he disappeared with a flash of light. Kali dove in right afterward and I began to step forward when suddenly I felt a chill as a dark presence engulfed me.

I turned my head to see the hooded figure standing a few paces behind me, it lifted an arm and a black tentacle whipped out from its robes and flashed towards me. My scythe twirled and I yelled some words in the old tongue. My mind recoiled as an oozing cold slithered in my head; my scythe flared with a blue flame and the thing screamed as the severed tentacle fell to the ground. The foreign presence in my head receded as the wounded limb recoiled, black ichor squirted out of the wound in a jet. Two spots of red flash beneath the thing's hood as I felt its outrage course over me. I gave it a single-finger salute and stepped back into the portal. It's scream of rage cut short as I felt my gut wrench and I was transported across time and space.

* * *

I came to my senses as someone painfully grabbed my hair and began dragging me by it.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Oh shut it! Quick, where to?" Kali shouted down at me.

"Just relax, will ya?" I replied as I slapped her hand away. She let go and I got to my feet and casually brushed myself off."

"Hello? Big scary bell guy chasing us? The 'slice up and eat your soul' guy." She said as Jaune's eyes fixated on something behind me. I turned to see that the portal had turned pitch black, I shrugged as tendrils began growing over the rim of the portal.

"Don't worry, he won't come in here." I reassured them.

Kali frowned, "What makes you so sure?"

"Agartha has security systems in place to stop things like him from getting in; they won't necessarily kill him, but it will ruin his day." I unscrewed the cap on my flask and took a swig.

"So how come the kids, those Proxy things, were able to get in?" she asked.

I shrugged, "They're not strong enough to trip them, that's why the Night Haunter was using them in the first place. They can't fill the place with those either however, as too many might activate them as well." I swirled the flask, feeling slightly depressed at how empty it sounded, "Think of it this way, you definitely would notice if a cow started walking around in your house, but you might not notice a few ants. However, if an entire ant colony tried to move into your house, you'd be getting the bug spray."

Kali considered that as she examined the portal, by which point was covered in twitching black tendrils. "So what the hell are those?" she asked, pointing to them.

I nodded, "Those will solidify soon, it's a way of blocking the Conduit." even as I said this, they began to calcify before our eyes. Soon the portal resembled a statue carved out of black stone.

"Uh-huh, and how long will that last?" Kali asked.

I shrugged, "Normally a couple of days, but that thing is _really_ bad news; I would guess that it will wear off in a couple years at best."

"And at worst?"

I thought about that for a moment, "Few hundred years, give or take." I began walked down the bridge, getting my bearings as I peered into the portals along the way.

"Whoah, whoah… Conduits? Proxy? _Night Haunter?_ Just what the hell is all of this?" That of course, was the Arc kid, I sighed heavily.

"All right kid, here's the low-down, you know how you've always thought that Grimm were the biggest, scariest thing out there? Well that's all wrong, there are things out there that make Grimm seem like cute, adorable little puppies in comparison. You've been chosen to help fight them by the powers that be that also gave me the job of making sure those things don't get too comfortable on our world. A choice that I'm going to them in person and complaining about. Got all of that?"

I looked over my shoulder to see him standing there, his eyes wide and his jaw slack, an absolute expression of hopeless confusion. Sweet, merciful Maidens, maybe good ol' Tai had yet another marriage I didn't know about, because I could swear the resemblance was uncanny.

"You still haven't explained that part about seeing 'them' in person." Kali said.

I shrugged, "Honestly not too sure if it'll work, my best guess is to go back where I met them the first time and see if I can't find them."

"You don't think that there's a most productive use of your time? Like, I don't know, maybe getting the Chosen One to a safe place and stuff like that?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "I mean, he's with me."

She narrowed her eyes at me, "Right…"

"Look," I said, my tone growing serious, "Beacon wasn't safe anymore, they knew he was there, and we didn't really have much of a chance reaching any of the defenses. None at least that could've stopped that guy."

"So who exactly was that then?"

I took another swig from my flask, "Short version: real bad news. He's a being from the Outer Realms, which are essentially a kind of… spiritual outer shell." I frowned, "So basically think of Remnant having layers, there's the physical one that we live in, but there are also spiritual ones. The closer ones are more connected to the world itself, for example, the Realm of Nature, which houses the… model world of nature, a tree here will have a representation there. Of course, if that tree is cut down, the representation there will also die."

"So those layers are the ones that the Elemental Lords occupy?" Kali asked.

I nodded, "Exactly, humans though kind of… create… their own layers, all of our thoughts, expressions, and ideas exist in the further layers that aren't as connected to reality."

Her eyes widened as she understood, "So basically a realm of all of the worst thoughts and fears of humanity."

I winced, "Yeah, see... people used to ring bells of a town if it was under attack by Grimm. Of course, after associating a bell with such a horrifying event, the sound of bells became a thing that everybody grew to get real twitchy about. That meant that all of those negative emotions all coalesced in that Outer Realm and poof." I spread my hands wide, "With some meddling from the Outer Gods, a being called 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is born."

Jaune butted in at that point, "Whoah, whoah... Outer Gods?"

I sighed, "Yeah, so it turns out, those Outer Realms are susceptible to a bunch of really unfriendly creepy crawlies called Outer Gods. For the most part they're ambivalent towards humanity; however there are a couple that are out to get us. Fortunately, we also have some things that are looking out for us. They're the ones who created Agartha and conduct the Devorahk, an event in which they pick a Chosen One who wields the power of Anima."

Jaune shook his head, "This is all so much to take in… so where do the Grimm and Aura fit in?"

I sighed, "That's the weird part, they don't; in fact, they contradict each other in a lot of ways." I turned my gaze upward. I didn't finish the thought out loud, that it had been my own sister who had brought all of this creepy crawly craziness on top of us. I didn't know how she did it, hell… I barely could comprehend _why_ she had done it. All I knew is that then some of those golden people had shown up and had appointed me as the Guardian of Remnant over the rapidly disintegrating corpses of some eldritch monstrosities. I briefly considered as I usually, whether I was just having some kind of bizarre dream, born of a massive bout of drinking. That I would wake up and be chewed out cheerfully by Summer as she dragged me out of the bar.

I deliberately kept my face hidden as I quickly brushed my arm across my eyes.

I wasn't that lucky.

I paused as we came up to a portal that showed a large cityscape. Giant buildings towered overhead as cars moved along the road, flanked by crowded sidewalks. "Here we are." I said. The other two stopped beside me.

"Is that…." Jaune began.

"Yup." I answered and stepped into the portal.


	10. Chapter 10

I walked out of Agartha and into a long alleyway, I took a single step forward, and then immediately hit the ground as pain washed over me in waves. I was vaguely aware of Kali and Jaune following shortly afterward and the two stared at me as I sat on my knees, gritting my teeth as I fought the urge to scream.

"Qrow? Qrow?! What's wrong?!" I heard Kali ask her voice slightly panicked.

I didn't respond for a while, slamming my fist into the ground as the pain slowly went away, leaving me gasping for air.

"Qrow, are you alright?" I looked up to see her looking down at me, her eyes full of concern.

"I'm fin-" I began, when suddenly images began flashing before my eyes, the buildings that surrounded us were ablaze, Grimm prowled the streets, tearing people apart as they fled screaming. The sky turned red and an earth-shaking roar echoed in my ears.

I let out a cry as I clapped my hands to my ears, squeezing my eyes shut. I felt someone shaking me, and all at once my head cleared. I opened my eyes again to see Kali in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.

"Are you alright?" she asked warily.

I shook my head to clear it, "Yeah, I think so."

She helped me up and I was aware of the kid staring at me, I turned to him with a sour expression and he abruptly shifted his gaze away.

"So uh… this is Mountain Glenn, isn't it?" He asked.

"Nice kid, how can you tell?" As I shifted my gaze toward a giant memorial statue in the form of an armored knight that stood high above the city.

The city's establishment had been called foolish, even idiotic, far removed from natural barriers like those the city of Vale itself possessed. Many had claimed it would fall to Grimm within months. They had almost been right; the Vale military had at first been able to keep the city safe via an aggressive series of forts and patrols. Slowly however, as more and more Grimm began to come against the city, those forts fell and the patrols had to be drawn further in.

The city had grown desperate and there had even been talk of evacuating underground. Then in the city's most desperate hour, with Grimm biting at the walls, a knightly order called the Order of the Equinox arrived. With just under two hundred warriors to their name, no one had expected much. As one of the Hunters who had been called in, I had personally gone up to one of the knights and told him that he was going to die.

Most of them had, but against all odds, they had gone to a fort placed at the mouth of the valley leading to the mountain and held it for a week. Then suddenly the Grimm just… stopped coming, I led expeditions out to investigate and we found the signs of titanic struggle… but no Girmm.

I had come back with the news and the whole city had celebrated long into the night, welcoming back the warriors that had held the fort as heroes.

That night is when I found my sister chanting over a circle around a large stone object. It's geometry had all been wrong. To this day, I'm not sure where it was flat, where it was curved, whether it had holes or not. It's entire existence was like a hole in reality, where reason was a laughable concept and even the most basic of mortal concepts an uncertainty. I had stood there dumbly, staring at the unearthly object, a bottle of whiskey in my hand that I had totally been planning to share.

At some point I was aware that the incessant chanting had ceased and my gaze turned to my sister, who for her part was staring at me with chilling intensity. She turned her attention back to the center of the design, I followed her gaze and I took a step back as I saw that the object was starting to move. It writhed and twisted, and let out a low hum that made my head ache.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" Raven whispered, her voice full of rapturous wonder.

"What the hell are you doing Raven?" I demanded.

She turned slowly to face me again, her eyes were dilated, their gaze unfocused, she smiled sadly and she let out a little sigh. "They told me that you wouldn't understand, they told me that you wouldn't see… but don't you?!"

I discreetly put my hand on the hilt of my sword, keeping it hidden with my cloak, "Don't I see what?" I asked her.

She threw up her hands, "They _saved_ Mountain Glenn! They'll destroy the Grimm! All of them! All that they ask is that we let them in, you see that don't you?"

"Raven," I said, keeping my voice calm, "I know that it's been stressful, and I don't know what the hell you dug up in here, but you need to stop whatever you're doing right now."

Her face froze and then her grew slowly furious, "You… you're not listening to me… why aren't you listening to me?!" She flung back an arm to point at the twisting statue behind her. "They are here to _save_ us!"

I saw the statue churn and suddenly a segment of the air above it just… vanished… like I was suddenly looking into a hole in reality. From that hole came spindly limbs that both resembled arms and tentacles they reached for Raven, grabbing her as she cackled madly and before I could react, yanked her back into the void.

"Raven!" I pulled out my blade and lunged for the statue, I swept my weapon in an arc the thing cut like butter, the top half fell clattering to the floor.

But that damned rift didn't close, it grew bigger, things emerged from it, awful things that defy description. In the end, we had been able to close it, but not before many people were dead or worse… including Summer.

I pulled the flask from my belt and took a huge swig… I frickin' hated this damn city. "Alright." I said, as I put the flask back into my belt. "I'm gonna head to the place where these guys got into contact with me. I think I've got a way to get their attention, in the meantime though, Jaune, I'm gonna be dropping you off with someone who I trust to keep an eye on you."

I turned to Kali, "As for you, you're off the hook now, you led me to the Chosen One, so your half of the deal is done." I pulled out my wallet and took out a couple of cards, "Here, this should be enough to get you back to Mistral."

Kali looked taken aback, she bit her lip and reached for the cards, then paused, "I never told you the whole story… of how my cult was wiped out, did I?"

I frowned, "Not really, you just said that it got into trouble with some Great Old One worshippers."

She nodded, "That's not really the full story though, I was the High Priestess of the cult."I

I shrugged, "Honestly kind of figured something like that, no normal priestess could've whipped up that wind storm back in the tavern like you did."

She looked me in the eyes, "Before the attack, I had communed with Kir'ala, and while most of the time he is… unfocused, his thoughts and whispers moving far too quickly for any mortal mind to comprehend. This time was different, it was… slowed, as though he was deliberately attempting to get a message across. He spoke of the Devoh'rahk, stressing its importance, but he was unclear on any of the details. I led an investigation, but in doing so…"

"You attracted the attention of that cult and they took exception to that." I finished. She nodded, "well that explains how you knew about it, but little else." I scratched my chin thoughtfully, "So, you're saying that you're sticking with us to the end then?" She shrugged, and I sighed, "Alright then, you'll be staying with Jaune while I go try and talk to glowing gold people."

"What makes you think that you'll be able to talk to them? If they wanted to speak to you, wouldn't they have done so when they selected Jaune?"

I grinned, "I think I've got a way to get their attention." I walked towards the opening of the alley, "C'mon, first I've got to go drop you guys off."

We walked out of the alley and into the hustle and bustle of what many had come to describe as Vale's sister city. It was newer, sleeker, if a little smaller; meaning it was more crowded. I naturally tensed up as we moved through the crowd, I always hated being crammed in with so many people.

Finally I stepped off to the side, "Here we are." I said and began walking up the stairs to the entrance.

"Uh… isn't this the police station?" Jaune asked as he paused on the steps.

I rolled my eyes, "Real observant, aren't you?"

He hesitantly joined me at the door, "But… what if more of those… _things_ … show up? Won't normal people just get hurt?"

I laughed loudly at that, "Kid… especially in this line of work… never assume _anyone_ is 'normal'." and I walked into the station.

"Hey Henderson," I greeted the corpulent man sitting behind the reception desk. He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and his eyes widened slightly as he saw me.

He set down the paper, "Oh Maidens, it's you." he breathed.

I smiled as I leaned casually on the desk, "Miss me?" I asked him.

"Something's blown up, something's blown up, hasn't it? Or has someone been mauled by a monster. Have _someones_ been mauled by a monster?" the man asked, his eyes wide.

I sighed, "Look everything's fine, I just need to ask your boss a favor, so go get her for me, will ya?"

The man continued to eye me suspiciously as he got up from the reception desk and walked down the hall and out of sight.

"You have a bit of a history huh?" Kali asked.

I shrugged, "Hey, a lot happens in my line of work."

I turned just in time to see a fist rocket into my face, sending me stumbling backwards, I casually turned my head and spat out some blood onto the floor.

"Nice to see you too, Zorja." I remarked.

A tall, purple haired woman in a Vale police officer's uniform gave me a toothy smile, "Always a pleasure, Qrow." She replied.

I turned to Kali and Jaune, the first was smiling slightly, while Jaune looked mortified. "Where were you on that one?" I asked them.

Kali cocked her head, "Not gonna lie, I was too busy coming up with a _punch line_ to warn you in time."

I rolled my eyes, "Glad to see that you're _crowing_ over my misfortune."

Zorja groaned, "Cut that out, or I'm gonna punch you again." She opened her hand and as I had suspected, some brightly colored dust fell to the floor.

"So you managed to make more of that stuff huh?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "I think so, but I've not been able to test it yet."

I looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, "So you just made me the guinea pig then?"

She rolled her eyes, "Like you have room to talk."

I held up my hands in a placating gesture, "Fair enough, anyway, I wanted to ask you a favor, I need to take care of something so I need you to keep an eye on these two." I jerked my head to indicate Kali and Jaune, "While I do that."

Zorja crossed her arms, "Level with me Qrow, is this in any way related to what happened with your sister?"

I hesitated, "In a way, I think it might be the culmination of it." I answered her.

Her gaze narrowed and nodded, "Alright then, I'll do it, but promise me you'll tell me if anything is going to endanger my city."

I nodded, "You got it."

She turned toward Kali and Jaune, "What are your names?"

Kali nodded to her, "I'm Kali Aristeas."

Jaune stuck out his hand, "I'm Jaune Arc."

Zorja took his hand and I saw the kid grimace a little in pain and I winced in sympathy. Zorja was pretty strong, she had been holding back on that punch earlier or I would've probably gone through a wall or two.

"Pleased to meet you two." she replied. She turned, and began walking down the hall, "Follow me, we've got a safe room you can hang out in."

I waved as they followed her and once they were out of sight I walked back out of the building and made a beeline for the industrial district.

It was just how I remembered it, dark, dingy, and dirty; I stared at a burnt out wooden building. It was boarded up, still abandoned after all of these years. Just like most of this square mile or so of the city, never re-inhabited.

I passed by one such broken down dump after another. From what I understood, some attempts had been made to reclaim this portion of the city, but I could see that little progress had been made.

Just walking around, I could tell why, everything here felt… wrong… like humans shouldn't be there, lest they anger something terrible.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to catch a glimpse of something as it dash out of sight. I quickened my pace; in all likelihood that wasn't all imaginary, we hadn't killed everything that had come through that portal, and it was likely that since then, more had made this area their home.

I finally arrived at my destination, walking up the door, I shoved my way through the door and walked into the center of the room and took a deep breath.

The Bloodied Quill, a drinking establishment that had been the scene of a… different sort. Here, Hunters and Huntresses drank alongside Knights of the Order of the Equinox, in addition to other skilled warriors. Some were soldiers, assigned to what many thought would be their last post, or mercenaries that were going to keep their contract, even if it meant their lives.

After the portal had opened, it had been where we had begun to organize to make our stand. I looked at the long oak bar, I remembered standing on top of that bar, getting everyone organized, trying to explain what I had seen, what we were facing.

We had taken to the streets, trying to beat back the monsters, I had been split off and had screwed up, facing down a monster that was descending down upon me as I faced what I thought would be my last moments on Remnant.

Then time had stopped and some alien being had explained that I had been 'chosen', had handed me a bottle of golden liquid, and had popped out of existence.

I hadn't heard from any such being since, and until the day that Jaune had been chosen, I hadn't been entirely sure that I hadn't hallucinated the whole thing.

Now though, from everything that I knew, I was going to be taking a gigantic risk to find out for sure.

I took a deep breath, "Hastur." I said, my voice clear, "Hastur." The room remained obstinately empty, "Hast-."

Suddenly a large hand covered my mouth, "You complete and utter idiot." A deep voice said beside my ear. "Are you _trying_ to end existence as you know it?"

Before I could respond or even turn my gaze, the world spiraled into nothingness.


	11. Chapter 11

The streets of the warehouse district had turned into a warzone that night, gunfire and the sound of battle echoed throughout the night sky as the defenders of Mountain Glenn fought desperately against the monstrosities that had emerged from the portal. I ducked behind the remains of a burned out car and swore as I fumbled with some shells, shoving them into the receiver on the gun and peeking around the corner. Whatever this thing was, it was ugly as sin; a moving mass of tentacles tipped with snapping beaks, with a single, multifaceted eye that swirled on a long stalk that protruded from the collection of slimy limbs that obscured any body it might have had.

I watched as it oozed its way down the street, occasionally grabbing objects seemingly at random, pulling them into the mass of writhing limbs. I finished reloading and took a deep breath, my eyes fixated on the creature's progress. It was moving inexorably toward the intersection that I was watching it from. And while any sane, rational person would be absolutely terrified and should run screaming if this thing was getting closer to them; I had a plan.

However, that plan involved it reaching the several pounds of explosives that I had managed to scrounge up and rig into a mine that it would be tripping in just a few seconds. It would be close to blowing me up as well, it had to be; I had a shotgun, a close range weapon. However, the car should theoretically shield me from the worst of the blast, enabling me to hit it while it was down.

Assuming that this thing wouldn't eat an explosion like that and then just keep coming, having the pesky little Hunter for a swift, crunchy second course. Assuming that I didn't miscalculate in the few desperate minutes that I had used to set this ambush and the car didn't flip over, crushing me beneath its weight.

I have great plans.

The monstrosity oozed up just short of the trap when suddenly it paused. My heart went into my throat as I watched it sit there, swaying slightly as even its ever moving eye fell still. A single drop of sweat crawled its agonizing way down my forehead as I begged and pleaded every being in existence that it would just move a few more steps forward…

Suddenly there was loud _clang_ and the creature's eye spun around to stare down a dark alleyway. It's whole bodily shifted eerily and it began flowing towards it.

I quickly considered my options… I knew this city like the back of my hand, and that alleyway ended in a dead end. If someone was down there then they'd be trapped; even if they tried to scale the wall, I'd seen these things move, the chances of them getting out were slim to none. However, if I alerted the thing now I'd lose any element of surprise… suddenly a scream erupted from the alleyway and the thing began to surge faster.

I sighed and vaulted out from behind the car, "Hey! Big and ugly!" The creature froze and its eye swept around and when it locked its gaze on me its eye widened and began turning a deep crimson. I immediately opened fire, pumping round after round, its multitude of beaks all screamed in fury as the bullets collided with the eye. A swarm of tentacles reared up and shot towards me, and I dove aside, continuing to fire at the beast. It screamed as suddenly its tentacled mass flowed forward in a wave of undulating flesh. "Ohhhh shi-." I began, and then it crossed over the mine.

A couple of pounds of red, brown, purple, and even a pinch of acid-green Dust went off, with a bunch of scrap that I had stuffed in as shrapnel. The result was a massive explosion that sent me flying into a truck. My ears rang and my head felt like it was on a freaking carousel ride; my eyes looked up at the sky… damn the stars were bright tonight… too bad all of that smoke was in the way… glowing a bright red from the fires that raged below…

Something moved in my peripheral vision and I turned my head to see that the creature was lying on the ground… globs of flesh and beaks were in laying on the ground in pieces. Even as I watched, the thing's eyestalk thing quivered, then slowly stood up, still a shade of crimson red, black ichor flowing freely from a massive wound where a piece of shrapnel had imbedded itself. It fixated on me, and several of its remaining beaks gave a weak scream as they slithered inexorably towards me.

I desperately tried to collect my thoughts and tried to lift my sword… which I suddenly realized was no longer in my hand. I looked up to see that it had been blasted into a building a few steps away from the blast, it's hilt sticking out, taunting me.

"Well… balls…" I said. I watched as one of the tentacles reared up and struck like a snake towards my throat…

Where it froze, just gently cupping my jugular. I frowned and then let my head fall back against the side of the truck.

It wasn't just the instrument of my impending death… everything was… still… silent. Even the roiling clouds overhead had frozen, as though in a photograph.

Suddenly there was a flash of blinding, golden light; I squinted my eyes, and when the spots cleared, there was a large man, floating in the air in front of me. He gently lowered to the ground, he frowned at the tentacle at his feet and then looked back up at me and readjusted a pair of spectacles that seemed several sizes too small for his face.

"Hello. Qrow Branwen I presume?" he walked up to me and offered me an outstretched hand.

I stared at it for a moment, "What the HELL did I drink?" I muttered.

"I understand your confusion… but I'm afraid I'm going to have to make this brief… you have been chosen."

I looked up at him, "Oh goodie… what'd I win?"

He frowned severely at me, "I see that you have still decided to act as those this is some kind of hallucination, let me assure you that-"

"Damn, my hallucinations are talkati- ow!"

My "hallucination" reared back a foot and kicked me in the shin.

"Alright, gotcha…" I took the being's hand and he helped me stand up, I brushed off my shirt and turned my gaze to the creature, still frozen in time.

The being followed my gaze and nodded, "A Malzbeast, I must say, not a bad kill; most mortals do not survive such an encounter…"

"So wait… I'm not dead?" I asked.

"No indeed Mister Branwen… as I stated before, you have been chosen."

"That makes just about as much sense now as it did the first time you said it."

He sighed and turned to me, and for the first time I noticed the "man's" eyes. They were a brilliant shade of metallic green; no pupil, no iris, just a flat chrome that glinted slightly in the light. "You are the Guardian of Remnant, chosen for your unique position of both being one who has seen the portal that has thrust your world into the chaos, and the kin of the one who opened it. Take this…" He held out his hand and a swirl of light formed, taking the shape of a small bottle. "Drink of its contents and receive, at least for a while, the power of Anima. It will last twenty-four hours, so you will have to be swift. Close the portal, and should you survive… we shall meet again, if not… then another will be chosen."

I raised an eyebrow and reluctantly grabbed the bottle, "Glad to know that I'm your first choice." I muttered. I stared at the bottle and then looked back up at him, "You know I usually don't drink things given to me by strangers…"

"My name is Tlaloc."

"You know that doesn't really solve the issue here…"

He shrugged, "Well then, let me elucidate the _issue_ , as you put it. When I leave you will be left with this Malzbeast and several other creatures that will seek to kill you. You are still quite injured and will stand no chance of survival, much less fighting your way to the portal. Alternatively, you could drink the contents of that bottle."

I bit back a reply and sighed; he wasn't wrong. The man smiled and his form began to dissolve before my eyes, "That's the spirit… for what it's worth Mr. Branwen, I do hope we meet again."

"Wait!" I said, but he was gone, I looked at the bottle and uncorked the top. Wisps of golden light shone from within and I hesitated.

Suddenly everything popped into focus and the tentacle at my feet began moving again, snapping at empty air before letting out a shriek of rage. The eye swiveled for a bit and then focussed on me once more.

"Welp… bottoms up." I kicked back my head and guzzled down the concoction. Almost instantly my head pounded, and a bizarre feeling flowed through my veins. Power coursed through me and I dashed over to where my sword was embedded in the stone, as fast as I had ever run before. I yanked it out in time to see a swarm of tentacles racing toward me. I slid aside and with a single cut cleaved through them. Black ichor spewed out from the ends and the creature's remaining beaks screamed. Without hesitating, I rushed forward, spinning my blade in an arc, I swung at the eyestalk. The flesh parted like a knife through butter and it went flying, the screams echoed once more, weaker this time, and I rose my blade overhead and with a shout brought it down on the creature's center of mass. My sword bit into the ground and the creature fell still. Slowly, the flesh parted from my blade, the two halves fell to the ground and began bubbling, as I watched the flesh dissolved into a black slick that boiled away. Soon nothing remained of the creature, I let out a whoop and shouldered my blade, I felt invincible as alien strength of a magnitude I had never felt before ran through my body.

There was an enraged scream and I looked up to see another one of the "Malzbeasts" as Tlaloc had called them, emerge from an alleyway, then another… and another. Soon no less than four of the creatures were facing me, their bizarre eyes turning that all too familiar shade of red. Far from feeling terrified as I should have I sighed and cracked my neck, "Time to get to work." and brandishing my sword overhead, I ran forward into the fray.

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in a chair in front of a mahogany desk. Sitting across from me was a familiar bespectacled man. He was reading a newspaper, a thoughtful expression on his face. I looked at the front page to see Jaune's face with a headline that read, "Devorahk: A Champion is Chosen!".

"We meet again, Mister Branwen." he remarked.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He looked up and arched an eyebrow, his expression displeased. "What? You guys are always so damn formal… lighten up a little bit."

"You do realize what you risked in even forcing me into this meeting right?"

I shrugged, "I mean, the book just simply said something along the lines of 'this guy is a really bad dude, and if you want to see him and he doesn't like you, then say his name three times.'

His expression somehow managed to scrunch itself up to show even more displeasure at my tone. "That…" he said sourly, "is truly awful paraphrasing. You utterly trivialize that of which you do not… _can not_ , understand."

I shrugged, "We mortals do it all the time, you should try it."

"Oh yes… and how is _that_ working out for you?"

I grinned, "We get by."

He snorted, "I see you don't merely butcher paraphrasing, you also savage summary. I truly cannot understand Their infatuation with you." He sighed and turned his attention back to the newspaper. "Just be aware that the King in Yellow is a truly terrible being. Truth be told I am not completely certain that you would have summoned him; his whims are capricious to say the least. However, the results should you have done so in that fashion would have certainly left all that you love in ruin."

I shrugged and smiled at him, but I had to admit, there was a grim certainty in those words that chilled me slightly. Thing is, I tend to become even more of a smartass whenever I let myself get scared, and I had better things to do than potentially antagonize one of the few beings I had encountered that seemed to have an interest in helping human and Faunus kind. At least, an interest in helping beyond a readily apparent ulterior motive.

"All right then, noted. Now I had some questions for you to answer."

"Proceed."

"Why exactly did you pick him?"

"Who, Jaune Arc?"

I leaned forward, "Yes, Jaune. Arc. The kid who's so green that I can see the grass coming out of his ears. Who's sole likable trait appears to be that he has a goofy look on his face when he's getting pummeled. A kid who-"

"Reminds you of a person named Tai-yang, who you appear to blame for everything. Am I correct?" Tlaloc interrupted. He shook his head and opened a drawer on the desk, he pulled out a cigar and lighter.

"What, are you stalking me now?"

"No, it's just that he's so much at the forefront of your mind right now that it's practically screaming at me." He lit up the cigar and took a deep puff. "No I can't _read_ , your mind, it's more like peeking in through a window… really… _reading_ minds. Once again, an absolutely awful summarizing." He leaned back and turned his gaze up toward the ceiling.

"Forgive me, I sometimes forget that view you mortals have of the universe is so… restricted. If you saw that boy through my eyes, you would ask how could we _not_ select him. For lack of a better term… he _burns_ in our eyes… full to the brim with potential, destiny practically curves around his form if he just reached out and _seized_ it."

I raised an eyebrow, "Him…"

"Yes him, if we had selected that Nikos girl… as you're thinking right now, she wouldn't have lasted a day. Would you like to have seen what her fate would have been? You can see it if you want, after all, you're not exactly quite in the time stream yourself."

I groaned as images flashed through my mind, as though in a feverish dream. Myself, Pyrrha and Kali, all running from For Whom the Bell Tolls nightmarish visage; Kali tripping… falling to the ground, was that a bandage on her leg? Pyrrha turned around without a second thought, charging at the creature as she imposed herself between it and the fallen woman. I saw a single flash of light and Pyrrha fell, crumpling to the ground. I screamed…

And found myself back in the chair, hands shaking as they clasped at my forehead, a cold sweat on my brow. I slowed my quickened, almost panicked breathing, recovering my composure. I sat up, running my hands through my hair, letting out a slow breath. Tlaloc said nothing, but simply handed me a glass of amber liquid. I took it, and drained it, gasping as the alcohol burned my throat.

"Alright then," I finally got out, "we'll move on to _why the hell_ does that keep happening?"

"The random deja vu? The flashes of things that will or will never happen?"

"Yeah, those things."

He leaned forward, looking at me over steepled fingers. "How much do you know about what your sister did?"

I frowned, "She opened a portal, she… she got grabbed… by whatever the things were that came out of the portal. Since then, a whole bunch of weird crap is happening, and I'm the one stuck cleaning up the mess."

He sighed, "Another absolutely _awful_ summary… is that truly all you know?"

I shrugged, "All of those books that we recovered either didn't make sense, or were too vague to draw anything conclusive from."

He sighed heavily, spewing out a small cloud of smoke. "Mountain Glenn… everything begins with that doomed city."

I raised an eyebrow, "Doomed? Like, how doomed?"

"As in its time is up; it should have been destroyed long ago, but the arrangement your sister made spared its destruction for a time. It will not last the night"

I shot up out of my chair and he lifted his hand in a placating gesture. "Do not fear, time passes much more slowly here than it does on the outside. Your companions will be safe when you return, and we have much more to discuss."

I reluctantly sat back down, "So, my sister made a deal with those… things?"

"Not specifically with the creatures you fought from the portal, but with their masters yes." He waved his hand and a small globe of Remnant appeared above the desk. "Remnant was originally a kind of game between two powerful beings, the god of light, and the god of darkness."

"A game?" I asked.

"Yes indeed, each thought that their own virtues would supersede the other's. Could creation outpace destruction when each is given an avatar in the world? Humans and Faunus against Grimm." He waved his hand and the globe spun rapidly and zoomed in to where Mountain Glenn was located. "The two raised their stakes higher and higher, until this city was in both of their sights. Should it stand, then it would be a great victory for the god of light, should it fall, the god of darkness would take yet another victory to gloat over; which indeed, seemed like it would be the case."

He smiled, "Indeed, I believe you yourself declared the whole situation 'hopeless'."

"Stupid, moronic, and pointless actually." I shrugged, "there were far safer places to establish a city, but none close enough to the mines that Vale so desperately wanted to claim."

"Hmm… in any case, at this point, the god of light had quite enough of losing. So, when a third player offered their… assistance… well... " A mass of dark tentacles began swarming over the globe, hovering menacingly over the landscape. "You wondered why the Grimm stopped coming, would you like to see why?" Without waiting for me to answer, he waved his hand and I saw legions of Grimm advancing toward the distant city, jaws snapping in anticipation. Suddenly, tentacles began rising from the earth, Malzbeasts poured out of nowhere, and numerous other monstrosities as well. They lacked any kind of resemblance to any creature I had ever known. Their anatomy bizarre, their forms those that could only appear in the crazed nightermes of the most deranged of minds.

A few moments later, the Grimm… and the monsters that had slaughtered them… were gone, vanished into the nothingness.

"In return for this, 'assistance', they demanded only one thing. That they be allowed a seat at the table to play. Your sister unfortunately, was the one who was chosen to provide that."

I leaned back trying to take in what he had said, "Why her?" I asked him.

Tlaloc suddenly looked uncomfortable, "I'm afraid that we had something to do with that."

My gaze narrowed, "What do you mean, 'something to do with that'?"

He sighed, "When this third player entered the game between light and darkness, we did as well. You see, we are a kind of… opposing force to them. We possess the power of Gaia, the power of Anima, for each living world that they attempt to consume, we must oppose, in order to maintain the balance."

"That still doesn't answer why they chose her." I said.

He looked up at me with a look approaching apologetic, "You're thinking about it in the wrong order." he said softly.

My eyes widened and I sat back in the chair, "You guys chose me…" I said slowly, "so they chose her."

Tlaloc said nothing.

I snorted angrily, "Well… screw you guys, now you're stuck with me and I'm stuck with Jaune." I tilted my head back to gaze into the white nothingness above my head.

"Why me?" I asked quietly.

"This may seem like a bit of a contradiction," he said, "but it is because you are lucky, beloved by fate, as it were."

I shook my head and let out a weak chuckle, "Great… just great. That is one big shitty contradiction alright."

We were both silent for a long time.

I sighed, "So, what's any of this got to do with the visions and the deja vu bullshit."

"Your world was never intended to get involved with all of this, therefore, its 'timeline', was written down a different path." He pointed at me, "You not only were present at the opening, but at the closing of the rift, your presence at that junction where your world jumped onto this new course is why you aren't quite back into a mortal flow of time and you're able to 'look around' as it were."

I lowered my gaze back down to stare at him, "So… I can see the future?" I asked.

He sighed, "Mortal time is like a river." He waved his hands and the globe image disappeared and was replaced by a river with three different paths. "Most are submerged in it, and can only act based on what they know at the time." He pointed at me, "You are on a log." Right on cue, a log with a little stick figure on it appeared, floating on the river.

I laughed, "Really? Can't draw my handsome visage?"

"Well, at least you know you'll never have ridden a log on a river with three different courses in your future." he growled. "This is harder than this looks."

I rolled my eyes, but said nothing.

He waved his hand and the log with the stick figure in tow reached the divergence and it stopped there. "You have the unique ability to see behind you, to see where the other paths would have led, as well as look ahead to see what some of your decisions may result in, or the decisions of others." He shrugged, "Of course, bigger things." He waved and a massive fallen tree appeared in the middle path. "Are easier to spot and avoid, and others may lack context or the full story."

"Right now, since you have no mastery of it, and indeed appear to have decided to drink yourself into a stupor rather than experience the discomfort of this time slip, your current situation is more like this." The stick figure promptly swam under the leg, gripping it tightly with its miniscule hands.

"Have to admit, didn't expect a sobriety intervention out of this meeting." I muttered. I frowned and leaned back in my chair. "This is a lot to take in." I said. "So what about the Devorahk? What the hell is it?"

He waved his hand and the image disappeared, he folded his hands on his desk and bit his lip. "This is the last hand of the game." He said simply.

I blinked and sat up straight, staring at him, "That sounds rather… final."

He shrugged, "Essentially, all parties involved have grown… bored… of the stalemate, and seek to end it all. One last bid from all players, and let the chips fall where they may. Should you win, defeat your enemies and trump their final card, then Remnant will be free from their machinations forevermore. Should you fail…" His eyes looked into mine and I gulped nervously at the intensity of his gaze. "Then it shall be lost to eternal darkness… consumed by the beings that have devoured so many other worlds before it."

I sat there for a while, then stood and stretched with a groan, "Great, any last advice before I go back?"

He smiled, "Yes actually," he said.

"What's that?"

"Don't lose."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter**

* * *

I emerged from that world into an alleyway. As soon as I did so, the familiar wave of pain began to wash over me; for the first time, rather than immediately trying to get myself smashed or shoving it away, I embraced it. Mustering my concentration, I began to peer deep within my own mind.

Suddenly, images flashed through as if I had opened a mental floodgate; I caught glimpses of myself fighting in a giant suit of armor, a blade of light held high. I groaned as the vision abruptly switched again, this time showing Jaune fighting a creature of darkness of a size so massive that it seemed without end, my heart sunk as he sagged to the ground and the creature stood mockingly above him, lifting a vile appendage to smash him into oblivion. The vision shifted once more, and I was standing before a twisted throne; a terrible figure reclined there, drumming their nails on one of the arms. My heart filled with dread as it raised a single, gnarled hand and I felt the fate of thousands hang in the balance.

The images cycled through what felt like an eternity, even though logically I knew it was only a few seconds. There were visions of triumph, victory, of hope, however they were all drowned out by the grimmer counterparts. I saw myself beaten down at least a hundred different ways, saw those I cared about die a thousand gruesome, gut wrenching deaths.

And throughout each of them, the same scene played like a recurring nightmare: Remnant was set ablaze, with death as the perpetual constant, creating a scene that which even hell itself could not compare. . I shook my head and slowly shoved the visions away. I found myself hunched over, gasping wildly for air. I was quiet for a moment, all of those things I had seen, the events I had witness… it was as though the universe itself was telling me that everything was doomed, that I had almost no chance of success; that only pain and suffering lay ahead of me if I tried to resist it.

I stood up straight and cracked my neck, letting out a slow sigh. I lifted my hands to the sky and gave it a double fingered salute. If it's intention had been to make me give up, it had just screwed up. Apparently the universe had somehow failed to notice after all this time that I was a stubborn son of a bitch. Now, it was personal; I would save this world… if only to spite whatever the hell it was that thought it could convince me otherwise.

I lowered my hands and looked up and it was only then that I saw the sky. I froze and my eyes widened, storm clouds roiled over Mountain Glenn, dark, purple clouds that were shaded blood red.

"This is Qrow Branwen with your daily weather report," I muttered to myself as I began running down the winding streets back to the police station. "Today's forecast predicts despair with a downpour of doom, so bring your weapons, prayers, and enough ammo to load one to answer the other."

* * *

I had never seen clouds like that before, and judging by the people that were standing around with their eyes fixed on the sky, nobody else had either. Whatever was causing them, I could only assume that it was part of what Tlaloc had been telling me about Mountain Glenn's time being up. He had told me that my companions would be safe when I returned, but hadn't said anything else.

I barreled up the steps to the police station and flung open the door. I scanned the room, the place looked like there had been a brawl; the walls were full of dents, scrapes, and a single hole that stretched into the next room. I heard the sign of a pump-action shotgun being cocked and I whirled around to find Kali standing there with the weapon leveled at me.

"Qrow!" she said and lowered it, "thank goodness..."

"What happened here?" I asked her.

"Oh, nothing."

She had answered that a little too quickly, and there was something almost frantic in her voice. I frowned and her eyes shifted nervously for brief second, as though she had been glancing at something behind me…

I whirled around just in time for to see something fill my vision, my whole body flipped as an unbelievable force collided with my face. I spun into a wall and everything went dark.

I woke up with a groan as someone splashed something over my face.

"He's waking up." I heard Kali's voice telling someone, "Did you really need to hit him that hard?"

"You didn't complain about the other three that came through." Zorja pointed out. Someone shook me by the shoulder, "C'mon Qrow, wakey, wakey." I opened my eyes to see Kali kneeling beside me, Zorja stood beside her, bucket in hand. "There we go, can you stand?"

I groaned as I did so and I massaged my jaw, "So from what you were saying, I'm guessing that you guys had some unwelcome guests?"

"Three creatures came in, all of them looked and sounded like you." Zorja shrugged, "The first one was an accident, that kid you brought, Jaune? He tripped with a bottle of the revealing powder and it spilled all over it. After that…" she shrugged.

"Hmmm… can't really blame you… damn." From their descriptions those things had been doppelgangers. They were a real pain in the ass, but there were ways of dealing with them. However, most of those involved tricking them somehow or exposing them to anima. Mountain Glenn a while back had an incident where some cultists got some of the things under their control and were using them for all sorts of mischief. I had helped Zorja root them out and we had found a powder that revealed their true form in their hideout. Since then she had been trying to replicate the concoction without success.

"Wait, why was Jaune carrying a bottle of revealing powder?" I asked.

Zorja grinned, "Damndest thing, I was working on the stuff in the lab and he was watching. At some point he got a little too close and accidentally knocked in some powdered foxglove. I was about to pound him for being such a klutz, but then the mixture turned blue just like the stuff the cultists had. I went with it and we churned out some bottles of the stuff. He was actually quite the help! Turns out he's a bit of a chef back at home, so he's a natural at mixing and measuring."

She shrugged, "Anyway Kali told us you were back, so I took him over to show you, I let him carry the first bottle that we had made and he tripped over himself. The bottle shattered all over that thing and it reverted back to its usual form." She pointed at a particularly large indent, "That's where I clobbered it into the wall after it tried to strangle Jaune."

I raised an eyebrow, "That's quite a series of coincidences." I remarked. I remembered what Tlaloc had said about destiny being around the kid. I guess that meant being clumsy enough to trip into a volcano and being lucky enough to emerge with a ice sculpture as a souvenir.

Zorja walked up to the doors and peered outside, "So, I'm guessing these clouds mean something a little more than a rainstorm?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

She grunted, "They look like the clouds from that night." she turned to look at me and I nodded.

"Yeah, they're related."

"Does that mean those things are coming back?" she asked.

I grimaced, "That and more I think."

She was quiet for a moment as she considered that, "Do you think we can hold out?" she asked finally.

I stepped up beside her and looked up at the sky, "No," I answered, "You need to start getting everyone out of here."

Zorja ran a hand through her hair, "Technically as head of the police and militia, I can call an executive evacuation order… but people won't listen unless they think there's actually a threat-"

At that moment, there was a flash of lightning and the ground rumbled and shook. I stumbled and caught myself on the doorframe. When I looked up my heart dropped, as I saw something massive in the distance surge forward, accompanied by an ear-shattering roar.

"I think," I nodded my head at the shape, "that counts as 'a threat'."

Zorja dashed over to a small box communicator and slammed the on switch, a siren began blaring throughout the city and she picked up a microphone, "This is Zorja Vecher, head of Mountain Glenn Police Force," her voice echoed throughout the city streets as the city's PA system picked it up. "This is not a drill, I am ordering an immediate full city evacuation, repeat, full city evacuation, all militia squads, pick up your weapons and go to your mustering stations." She put down the microphone and walked over to a locker, she opened it up and pulled out the suit of armor inside. "You should get out of here Qrow." she said as she began putting it on.

I raised an eyebrow, "You aren't going to ask me to stay and help?"

She pulled out a rifle and shoved in a magazine, "Those shape shifting bastards were here for the kid, all three of them gunned straight for him. I'm guessing since that wasn't working that this is the straightforward alternative." She glanced up at me, "how am I doing?"

I grimaced, "Full marks." I muttered.

She grinned, "Alright then, you still able to open up those Agartha entrance things?"

I nodded and she cocked the rifle and stepped up, "Alright then." She put on an earpiece communicator and put her hand to it. "Hey, Hendricks, it's me Zorja, get to the lab and grab the bottles full of blue powder you see there. I want you to hand it out to each militia squad leader, have them dust the men with some and keep the rest handy." She rolled her eyes, "I don't care what you tell them, make something up, trust me, you won't need to explain anything if the stuff works. I'm getting our guests out of here, then I'll rendezvous with you, Zorja out."

She rotated her shoulders and cracked her neck, then looked to me, "Alright Qrow, lead the way."

I held up a hand, "Give me a sec." I pulled out my scroll and quickly dialed in a number, Ozpin's face showed up a second later.

"Ah Qrow, good to see you." he said calmly.

I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? Would it kill you at least once to act surprised? Like a, 'thank goodness you're alright'? Or maybe even, 'where the hell are you right now?'"

Ozpin took a sip from his cup, "I assume by your jocular manner that Jaune is safe?"

"Yeah, he's fine… listen, we're at Mountain Glenn, but we're evacuating now, there's something huge here, something I've never seen before. I'll contact you to give you an update once we've escaped."

Ozpin nodded, "Understood, good luck Qrow."

I hung up, and shook my head slowly. This wasn't the first time that I got the distinct impression that he knew more about the situation than I did. "At this rate, he should probably give _me_ an update once we get out of here." I muttered.

"You alright?" Kali asked.

I shook myself and pocketed my scroll, "Yeah, let's move."

* * *

We made our way back down the to alley where we had entered the city. Which was in a panic, people were running to and fro, carrying their children and what possessions they could carry with them.

"It's gonna almost impossible to get everyone out in time…" Zorja whispered to me softly as we watched a family run by.

I frowned, "I thought the trains were designed for something like this?"

Zorja bit her lip, "They can hold everyone… the problem is getting them shifted around, everything unloaded, and then getting everyone loaded in. It's not like we were allowed to run drills very often; we grew complacent." She looked back up at the massive creature that was stomping its way slowly toward the city. She looked back at me, "Is there any way we could use Agartha to get people out?" she asked me.

I stopped as I considered that, "We'll have to see, there's a lot of variables with traveling through there."

She raised an eyebrow, and turned to Jaune and Kali, "That's Qrow for, 'I have no friggin' clue.'"

Kali rolled her eyes and gave a knowing smirk while Jaune gave me a slightly worried look.

I scowled at her, "I didn't exactly get an instruction manual on this stuff you know?"

We arrived at the alleyway and I took out the flask, began to uncap it, then paused. "Hey, you know what? Jaune, come over here."

Jaune nervously stepped forward and I pointed at the wall. "Put in your hand on the wall, right there."

He did so and the air thrummed with energy, soon there was the familiar golden swirling. I put the precious flask away, it was just like with the entrance back at Beacon. The kid could use anima without even thinking about it. To say anima was hard for mortals to use was putting it lightly, I could cheat by just ingesting the stuff, but I was special. Usually you had to follow strict guidelines, using special materials or rituals to channel it. In comparison, monsters wielded mana as easy as breathing… it's one of the things that made my relatively easy use of anima so important in my line of work. When facing off against cheaters, it helped to cheat yourself.

The swirling slowed, the golden light faded slightly and a darker color began filtering in. I frowned, something felt… off, "Jaune! Get back!" I yelled as I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. I had just started pulling him backwards when a giant oozing appendage reached out and snatched at where he had just been. There was an infuriated howl and a creature began to emerge from the portal. My mouth dropped as I stared at the creature.

It was as large as a bear, brown ooze rolled down its amorphous body as it flowed into existence. The original appendage withdrew back into the main mass and it opened a gaping maw and roared.

Zorja replied with a full burst from the rifle into its face. It gave a screech as the rounds tore into it, its vacant, black pits that served as eyes turned toward her and a long arm shot out from its body. She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding its grasp. There was a surge of energy beside me and I turned to see Kali reaching her open palms out toward the creature. She chanted under her breath and there was a howling of wind that rushed toward the monster. It collided with it, sending it into the wall, it let out another screech and another monstrous growth emerged from its body, rushing directly at her. Without thinking, I shoved her to the side and pulled out my blade, as the limb shot by us I slashed it in two. The monster roared again and it surged toward us in a wave.

Jaune stepped in the way and raised his shield high, my eyes widened as I saw the mass slam against him; the kid stood his ground and let out a roar as he reared back his sword. I stared as the sword glowed with a golden light similar to that of the portal, Jaune let out a yell and sliced the sword through the creature. The creature let out a piteous wail and fell back; before our eyes it began to shrink, collapsing in on itself. Moments later, it was nothing more than a puddle of rapidly evaporating brown sludge.

I had to admit, that was pretty sweet; I sighed as I sheathed my blade. Iit looked like that anima channeling wasn't just useful for being a glorified doorman. The kid had somehow figured out how to infuse it into his weapon… that was a trick I would go sober for months to learn.

"Um… Qrow?" Kali said, interrupting my train of thought, I turned to see her pointing behind me.

I followed her finger and my heart dropped like a rock.

Though the portal, I could see that all of Agartha was flooded with the same brown sludge, it poured from some unseen source, flowing like a sickly river. Even as I watched, two more of those monsters came into view and they turned toward the portal. They opened their mouths in silent roars and began surging towards us. I reached for the flask at my belt and gulped down the Mistralian Gold inside, nearly choking on the stuff in my haste. Coughing and spluttering, I concentrated on my hand as I flattened it, and with a cry, sliced my hand through the portal..

There was a booming retort and a screech of static, the portal writhed and churned, and then disappeared; leaving only the deep gouge in the stone. I was silent as I stared at the empty space, a single drop of sweat made its way down my brow as I watched as to whether my hunch would pan out. Finally, after probably about a minute of no oozing monstrosity charging at us, I sighed in relief.

"What the hell were those?" Zorja asked as she reloaded her rifle.

"Search me," I growled as I shook the flask, from the sloshing inside probably around half was left. I screwed the top back on and scowled at the now dormant portal. I did know what that meant however… Agartha travel was cut off. I turned to Zorja, "Do you have another way out of here? An airship maybe?"

She frowned and put her hand up to her earpiece, "Hey Hendricks, this is Zorja… what?" Her face registered surprise and she frowned, "Yeah, he's with me. Really? Did you try the powder on them… nothing? Huh. Okay, got it, we're on our way, Zorja out." She hung up and shook her head slowly. "Well Qrow, you're in luck! Someone is requesting you, and they say they have an airship out of this place. They said they were sent by Ozpin; they're over at the airfield."

I raised an eyebrow, "How the hell did he even-." I began to mutter, then shook my head. "You know what? Nevermind. Let's get to that airfield."

* * *

By now, the streets were mostly emptied out, occasionally we passed by squads of militia that were patrolling and helping the last stragglers evacuate the city.

We were a couple of blocks away from the airfield when we ran into trouble. Kali sensed it first, stopping, she tilted back her head and sniffed at the air. She bared her razor sharp teeth and looked around nervously, "Qrow… there's something here…"

I pulled out my blade and scanned my gaze over the area, then I saw what appeared to be a human leg sticking out from one of the alleyways. I got Zorja's attention and pointed at the leg. "Cover me, there might be wounded." I told her.

She nodded and shouldered the rifle, "I got you." she told me.

I cautiously approached the alleyway, edging around a large truck that was parked on the side of the road. When I got in clear view of the alley, I retched.

The leg wasn't attached to anything, ending just above the knee. In the alley were pieces of people, blood was splattered everywhere and organs lay in gory strands. My gaze drifted upward just in time to see a creature emerge from the shadows.

It had four limbs, the front two were long and hooked, like enlarged praying mantis limbs; while its hind limbs were squat and powerful. Its skull was large and flat, with slit like eyes and a wide, gaping mouth with gigantic teeth that were covered in blood. As it moved further into the light, its front limbs slamming into the concrete with every step I let out a shocked gasp…

It was made entirely out of bone, with a corded sickly gray substance acting as ligaments connecting the thing's body together. It stopped and crouched low, letting a kind of clicking screech.

Two more stepped out of the shadows, almost exactly identical to their companion. They too crouched low, their narrow eyes locking onto me, their muscles tensed and ready to pounce.

For my part, I held up my sword in a guard position, my mind moving rapidly, why were they hesitating? The only thing I could think of was…

My eyes widened as I looked at their front limbs. After all, those would be perfect for climbi-, by the time that thought was crossing my mind, my body was already moving, dropping into a roll.

A fourth creature slammed into the ground where I had just been standing, sending cracks running through the cement as its front limbs dug deep into the ground. It let out an infuriated screech and they all began charging me; moving forward in ungainly leaps that closed the distance rapidly.

The one furthest on the left reached me first and it lifted one of its claws in an overhead swing, there was the sound of gunfire and it reeled backward with a screech.

I stepped back as I deflected blows from the other two creatures, once I got back out into the street, I transformed it into its scythe form.

"What the hell are those things?" Zorja yelled as she unleashed another burst into the creatures.

"Hell if I know!" I answered back as one of the creature's claws slammed into my scythe. Twisting it with a yell, I threw its limb to the side, staggering it briefly. I reared back my scythe and swung it in a vicious arc at the creature.

Only to have it bounce off, sending a tremor through my arms and knocking the creature to the ground.

"Damn it!" I snarled as I went on the defensive once more. Suddenly I was aware of a presence at my side and I glanced over to see Jaune take a strike from one of the creature's squarely onto his shield. He grunted as his feet dug in as he absorbed the blow, then he swung his own sword at the creature in reply.

The sword flashed golden and the blade bit deep into the creature's shoulder, it let out a shrieking hiss and retreated backwards, it's head bobbing and weaving as it considered the kid.

I swore vehemently, "Come on Qrow, you're supposed to be the one with the experience." I muttered and I began whirling my scythe.

"Saron'gar! Vust ignasias vulcanos!" I cried out in the old tongue, and swung my scythe at one of the creature's heads.

Two things happened at once, the familiar blue flames wrapped around my scythe, and the blade cut deep into the creature's head, causing it to collapse with a wail. The second, was suddenly it felt like a hot iron had been pressed to my forearm, and I fell to my knees, biting back a scream.

Even as I watched, more of the creatures began to swarm out of the darkness. Jaune stepped in front of me, both of his weapons glowing gold as he battered them back. "Qrow! You okay?"

I grit my teeth and stood up, I glanced at my scythe to see that the blue flame still flared around its edge. "I'm fine, stay focussed." I flicked my scythe to bat away a claw that had been streaking toward the kid's unprotected side, even as he sent one of the creature's heads flying with a powerful slash.

"There's too many of them!" Zorja growled as she fired at one of the creature's joints, gray ichor flew forth and the creature staggered backward with an ear-piercing screech.

Kali took a deep breath behind us, "Keep them off of me!" she yelled. The hairs on the back of my neck rose on end as the air suddenly turned cold. I glanced back to see that the woman was raising her hands to the sky, muttering under her breath in the old tongue.

I let out a cry as I fought with renewed vigor, sweeping my scythe from side to side, the empowered blade cutting through the creatures like a knife through butter. Even so, I got as good as I gave, and soon my Aura shell was beginning to feel the strain, crackling as the creatures blows got past my guard.

To my side, Jaune wasn't faring much better, and the golden light from his weapons slowly began to dim. His fighting style becoming more defensive as he panted heavily behind his shield. Then suddenly, he staggered as his foot slipped out from under him, causing him to drop to one knee. The creature facing him gave a victorious screech and lifted a claw overhead to deal a finishing blow. I gave a frustrated cry as I threw back one of the damn things and began to turn, I was never going to make in time.

Zorja let out a cry and leapt forward, interposing herself between the creature and the fallen Hunter, lifting her gun to block the blow. The claw ripped through the metal as though it was tissue paper sending her reeling backward, clutching at her arm.

My own retaliatory strike hit the top of the monster's head and kept going, digging into the earth at its feet. The creature paused for a moment, then its two halves fell apart, hitting the ground with a sickening pair of _thuds_.

Abruptly, the air turned freezing, and I retched as its taste became foul in my mouth, as though someone had just released a toxin. The blue flames around my scythe flickered once then died, as though snuffed out.

The wind churned and howled as he chanting behind me hit a crescendo and I turned my head to see Kali extending her hands toward the creatures, a wild blue light surrounding them. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they too shone with the same bluish glow.

"Hit the deck!" I yelled. I grabbed Jaune and Zorja, throwing them to the ground beside me.

The creatures let out a collective screech and they stormed over to attack the seemingly vulnerable figures on the ground.

A windstorm erupted from behind us, blasting into the creatures and slamming them into the wall, pinning them there. Kali stepped forward, her chanting getting deeper, sending a shiver down my spine. Suddenly there was a whirling maelstrom around each of the creatures, obscuring them from sight. Finally Kali stopped her chanting, the bluish light faded from her and she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. The windstorms surrounding the creatures slowly died down, and when the air finally fell still, the creatures were gone.

"That was a hell of a trick." I remarked to Kali as I offered my hand to help her up.

She gave a tired grin and took it, getting unsteadily to her feet, "It's the mana" she explained, "it's so thick in the air right now I can practically taste it. It's allowing me to do more than I normally would."

Zorja frowned at that and turned her gaze to me, "Wait… mana? I thought that was what monsters used?"

I grimaced, "Yeah… long story short: Kali here isn't entirely human but she's on our side."

Zorja raised an eyebrow at that and shrugged, "To be honest, I kind of guessed that from the teeth, but I thought maybe she was a shark Faunus or something. After seeing that display though, I think I can safely say I prefer her being on our side to the alternative."

She walked over and picked up the shattered pieces of her rifle, she gave a grunt of disgust and dropped them. She pulled the pistol out of her holster and checked it over. "I'll have to make a mental note to laugh more at your puns."

Kali grinned and looked over at me "Good to know that I can depend on preferential _tweet_ ment."

Zorja paused for a moment then shook her head with a groan, "I'm sorry, I can't, that one was just too awful."

I cocked my head, "You don't mean aw _fowl_?"

Jaune let out a strained cough and Zorja rolled her eyes at me. Then her gaze suddenly fixed on something past me and her eyes widened. "Um… Qrow?." she pointed at something further down the alley.

My heart sank as I turned to look down the alleyway and saw more of those slit like eyes staring at us from the shadows. I turned back in the direction of the airfield, "Come on!" I yelled and ran like hell, the others followed, and with a screech, the creatures gave chase.

* * *

We made it to the airfield, our pursuers not far behind, on the tarmac was a single airship. I blinked back sweat as I recognized the ship's bulky frame as a Taurus-class dive bomber. It's been awhile since I've seen one of those, the part of me that wasn't focused on running for my life thought. Funnily enough it had been Mountain Glenn when I had last seen one.

A figure in white and gray body armor was performing some checks on the ship, but turned to face us when they heard the commotion. Instantly, he went into action, slamming the panel shut that he had been inspecting and running up the loading ramp and into the ship. There was a low humming sound as the airship's engines began warming up.

I was the first to reach the airship, I stopped and turned at the top of the ramp with my scythe drawn. "Pile in everyone!" I yelled.

Kali, Zorja, and Jaune all ran into the ship, the creatures hot on their heels and I swung my scythe like a club, slamming them aside as the ramp began to shut. One of the damn things leapt forward and managed to wedge their claw into the gap. The machinery began to give a high-pitched whine as the monster began to slowly force it back open. "Jaune!" I yelled.

Thankfully the kid understood and with an exhausted shout he swung his sword at the offending limb. The sword flickered briefly with golden light and the severed claw fell to the ground. A screech echoed throughout the cargo bay and the ramp snapped shut, "Go, go, go!" I yelled toward the cockpit.

The pilot's hands danced across the controls for a moment, and soon the bank of lights above their head went from red to a smooth green. As soon as they did so, the pilot slammed a large red button on the control board and grabbed the joystick, yanking it straight back.

The airship engines boomed as the Dust reactor kicked into overdrive and I staggered as the ship practically shot straight up into the air. The pilot turned us around and a few seconds later, we were shooting through the sky, the buildings of Mountain Glenn fading rapidly into the distance.

I sighed heavily and walked up to the cockpit where the armored figure was sitting. "Thanks for the ride. Although…" I pulled out my sword and switched into gun mode, pointing it at the back of his head. "That armor you're wearing is Atlesian, specifically, it identifies you as one of Ironwood's black ops lackeys. There's no way Ozpin would send someone from your outfit without telling me personally first. Considering my past history with you guys; he would be worried I would do something…" I cocked the gun, "...irresponsible."

The pilot flicked a couple switches, "Auto-pilot, engaged." the computer chirped. The pilot turned to me and pulled off his helmet.

"That's because he didn't send me." Winter Schnee said as she set the helmet onto the dashboard. "Qrow Branwen… I need your help."


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter**

* * *

"No." I replied and sat down in the co-pilot's chair as I switched the gun back into a sword and sheathed it.

She sighed at me, "Look, I know that we've had our… differences… in the past. But I really need your help."

"Noooo way." I said as I reclined lazily, pulled out a flask and began drinking.

She glared at me as I smacked my lips in satisfaction, "Qrow…"

"See, Ice Queen, I remember some choice words that were said back at Beacon… and they really hurt my feelings." I gave her a pout, "And I never even got an apology."

She bristled, "You destroyed Atlesian military property without provocation of any kind!" She spat.

"See, that doesn't sound like an apology to me, did that sound like an apology to you?" I asked Jaune, who simply looked nervously between the two of us.

"I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important." She said.

"But is it important enough for an apology?" I asked sweetly.

I could practically hear her swallowing her pride, she sat up straight and composed herself, "Qrow Branwen, I apologize for my… ill-considered words, and humbly request your assistance."

Damn, whatever this was must really be important, unfortunately for her, I wasn't done yet...

"Did I ever tell you guys how she and her buddies tried to kill me?" I asked Jaune, who shook his head. "Oh, well that's a fun one…"

I took a deep draught from my flask, "You see… I was investigating some very dangerous ruins. The kind where you should definitely should burn everything to the ground,bury the ashes, and erase any trace of its ever existing just to be safe. Well so, I was going around, being the upright and noble Guardian of Remnant, killing horrible monstrosities and a couple of crazy cultists, when these assholes show up."

I nodded to Winter. "With their airships and guns, they start rampaging through the place; but, rather than doing the sensible thing and destroying the stupidly evil stuff they found there like they told me they were doing, they were loading the stuff up on the airships like a bunch of armed bandits." I gave her a baleful glare, "So when I… took steps to ensure that those artifacts were being handled appropriately. They started shooting at me."

"You were setting fires inside of our airships!" she protested.

"Oh? Do you want to tell the rest of the story?" I asked her, "You want to personally explain how my fire-starting saved the day?" She bit her lip and avoided my gaze and I turned back to Jaune. "It turned out that one of their pilots had already been corrupted by one of the artifacts and he turned into a massive tree thing that smashed everything and I had to save their collective asses by burning the thing up with a combination of Dust, magic, and high quality alcohol… although." I said as I drearily swished the contents of the flask, "High quality alcohol is, in and of itself, a kind of magical thing."

"So are you going to help me or not?" Winter asked, her face red.

I chuckled, "Look, I appreciate you picking us up, but we're on a mission here and…"

"Yes, the Devorahk, I know."

I raised an eyebrow, "You guys know about that?" I asked her, she nodded and I sighed heavily. "So let me guess, what you need help with has something to do with that?" She bit her lip and nodded again, "I'm also guessing that you guys had something dangerous, and you screwed with it once too many and it blew up in your face."

"Look, are you going to help me or not?" she asked.

I thought about that for a moment, "Tell you what, tell me what happened, and I'll consider it, but if at any point I think you're lying to me, or not telling me something, then you can drop us off and find somebody else to take care of your problem. Deal?"

She looked back out the window, and for a second I wondered if she was going to say anything, then she nodded. "It all began with an artifact we found in some ruins in the mountains north of Atlas," she explained. "It was a… shard of something, in some ways it resembled a crystal, but in other ways, a piece of living flesh. From the texts we were able to find, we deduced it was a piece of an avatar of some great eldritch being. However, it lay dormant, and no matter what kind of testing we did, we couldn't learn anything more about it."

She paused for a moment, "Then suddenly, a couple of days ago, it became active, and it began… whispering things to us." She shuddered a little, and her eyes were distant as she continued speaking, "the others… they began going crazy. I thought I was going to go mad myself, the last thing I remember from the facility is Ironwood getting me to an airship and telling me to get help."

"A couple of days ago huh…" I looked over at Jaune, "So that means around the time of the Devorahk."

She nodded, "Yes, it's my belief that they're connected in some way." She took a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry that we didn't listen to you, but I promise you that if you help me, we'll destroy anything that you deem too dangerous to keep intact. But only if you help me get into the base and destroy that shard."

I raised an eyebrow, "Damn… I've always wanted to say, 'I told you so,' but I never dreamed you guys would beat me to it." I shrugged, "Sure, we'll help, it's not often that I get to smash Atlas property, get told by Atlas to do it, and all the while doing my job."

Winter winced at that slightly but nodded to me gratefully, "I have several squads on standby, all with experience fighting the supernatural. However, we need a way to get in without falling victim to whatever that mind whispering is."

I frowned as I considered the problem, then nodded, "Yeah, I think I know some people who can help us with that, but we'll have to stop by to pick up some supplies first." I reached into my pocket and pulled out my scroll and began typing rapidly, "This is a list of the stuff we'll need… get somebody to pick it up and meet us at these coordinates." I gave her the device and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna check on the others."

I began walking towards the cargo bay, "Hey, are you serious about this?" I turned around to see Winter holding the scroll. "Twenty large stainless steel spoons, five handheld silver mirrors, and two bottles of whiskey?"

I nodded. "Yes, all of that is vitally important. Especially the whiskey, be sure to bring the whiskey. Also, don't skimp on the mirrors, I want actual silver, not cheap knock offs."

She looked at me doubtfully and I shrugged, "Hey, you came to me for help. if you don't want it, then you can just drop us off somewhere. That, is… if you think you'll fare any better than last time." I turned back around and kept walking, "your call."

I grinned as I heard her give a hiss of frustration and turn back around. That grin faded as I entered the cargo bay and saw Zorja sitting down, with Kali bending over her arm.

"I told you, I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound." Zorja told her.

Kali shook her head, "I told you already, if they have a venom or something on those claws, it doesn't matter how big the cut is. Now hold still…" she closed her eyes and began chanting under her breath in the old tongue.

Zorja abruptly pulled her arm away, "Ach, that's cold, what are you doing?"

Kali held out her hands in a placating gesture, "I'm just doing a divination; it-"

Zorja looked up at me and grunted, "You see this? You get a little scrape and everyone's fussing over you."

I rolled my eyes, "Zorja, just let Kali work, you know she's right and it can't hurt to at least check it out."

Zorja grumbled a little, but held out her arm once more and my heart dropped. Her arm had a great bloody gash where that bone thing's claw had slammed into it; Kali gently took it and began chanting once more. Soon, Kali opened her eyes and released the arm, "Just as I thought, there's a curse on the wound."

"Well, shit." Zorja said. "Can you tell how bad it is?"

Kali bit her lip, "It seems to be very slow acting, but without knowing more about it, I can't remove it safely. I'll have to study it, but for now we should clean it up and bandage it. It won't do us much good getting rid of the curse if it just gets infected."

Zorja nodded as she stood up and walked over to a cabinet on the wall, "if I remember correctly this is where the first aid kits are stored on these hunks of junk." she opened it up, "Bingo." she pulled out a case and popped it open and began pulling out the supplies.

Kali frowned, "How did you know that?" she asked her.

Zorja grinned, "I flew one of these ships during the siege of Mountain Glenn. They handle like a pregnant cow, but damn if it isn't the dive bomber I'd pick if I had to drop a payload right in the middle of a Grimm horde."

Kali lifted an eyebrow. "Interesting," she turned to me. "Alright, then now let's check out your arm."

I backed away a little bit. "What do you mean? Zorja's the one who got injured."

She put her hands on her hips, "Don't give me that, I saw you during the battle. Now let me have a look."

I sighed heavily as I rolled up my sleeve and showed her. Her face paled as she saw the design that was etched there.

"That… that design… that's…"

"Yup, that's the mark of Sarongar." I replied, the twisting design scorched onto my skin like a cattle brand.

"What… what does it mean?" She asked me, her voice filled with trepidation.

"It means that he probably wants to renegotiate our arrangement." I answered as I rolled my sleeve back to hide it from view once more. "Essentially, I can't depend that I can channel the flames into my blade anymore, which means that if those things show up again, Jaune might have to do most of the heavy lifting."

"At least until you find out what he wants." Kali said.

I shrugged, "That's pretty much the gist of it. I'll take care of it when we reach Forever Fall."

She frowned. "Why are we going there?" she asked me. I gave her an update on the situation with Winter. When I was finished, she put her hands together and looked over her fingertips at me thoughtfully. "So let me get this straight, we're going to Forever Fall, to get something to resist the influences of an avatar of a mighty eldritch being. Which I'm guessing we'll be dealing with another eldritch being to do. Then we're going to a secret Atlas military base where said influences have already potentially driven everyone crazy; right in the middle of a bunch of yet more incredibly dangerous eldritch artifacts. How am I doing so far?"

I smiled, "Never let it be said that hanging out with me is boring." I replied.

Kali gave me a look, "Noted. Still though, the only thing you have connecting it to the Devorahk is the timing, they could potentially not even be related. Why so much effort and risk?"

I shrugged, "Call it a gut feeling." I told her. In truth, what Winter had told me had resonated with some of the visions I had seen in such a way that I was sure that the key to the Devorahk lay in that base. Also there was indeed a feeling in my gut.

Unfortunately, that feeling was dread.

* * *

We landed in the Forever Fall forest, and I stepped outside, taking a deep breath as I appreciated as ever the beauty of nature. I walked down the loading ramp and began walking off toward the trees.

"Where are you going?" Winter called after me.

"I'm going to talk to our contact." I told her as I walked out of sight, "Make sure you keep an eye on those supplies when they arrive."

When I had reached what I considered a safe distance, I pulled out my sword and shifted it into its scythe form. "Sarongar," I whispered, "vult al visces rencirtes." I grit my teeth as the mark on my arm began burning once more and suddenly a man stood before me.

He was tall and dressed in a black suit, his hair was red and clipped short, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, although an unnatural, smoldering glow emitted behind them. He stood still for a moment, taking in his surroundings, then finally he turned his gaze to me and he smiled.

"Qrow Branwen!" he said, his deep voice echoing strangely as he spoke. "I'm so glad to see you got my message."

I nodded to him, "Sarongar." I leaned on my scythe. "'Sup?"

He waved his hand and suddenly a large oak table with two chairs appeared in front of us, "Come, sit." I did so and he followed suit, slapping his hands idly against his knees as he looked at our surroundings.

Finally he took a deep breath and sighed appreciatively, "Oh this place would look lovely as an inferno." he told me. "The sap in the trees here would make it exquisite, a nice crackling as it boiled beneath bark."

He reached over and stroked his hand against one of the trees and abruptly it went fully ablaze. Even as I watched, it began listing and then fell… it was in ashes before it had even hit the ground, falling in a fine dust to the forest floor.

Sarongar chuckled and then turned to me, "I suppose you want to know why I called you?" he asked, gesturing to my arm.

"In the future I would appreciate if your method of contacting me did not involve burning your mark onto my skin."

His eyes flared up behind his sunglasses, "Oh, I'm sure you would, but then again, I would prefer it if you didn't throw my power around so much."

I shrugged, "It's been a busy past few days." I replied.

He leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of him. "Indeed it has." he drawled. "The Devohrahk is upon us, is it not? I contacted you," he said, "because I know where you're going, and I want to ask a favor of you."

I raised an eyebrow, "What kind of favor?" I asked him.

"It is nothing too onerous." He told me. "I need… a stone."

"A piece of rock?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh course it's no ordinary stone." he said.

"Of course not." I said sourly, "that would be far too easy."

"It is a special stone, also called the Essence of the Mother." he told me. "You see," he told me conspiratorially as he leaned forward, "the sky is falling."

I stared at him for a second, not quite sure to respond. "The sky… is falling?"

He nodded to me, "I can see your confusion, so allow me to clarify." He leaned back.

"What is your favorite myth?" he asked me abruptly.

The question caught me off guard, "Uh… none in particular… sobriety?"

He smiled, "Comical. Well, this particular one has to do with the origins of my brothers and myself." He waved his hand and two fiery figures appeared on the table. "Long ago, there were two great beings, the Mother and the Father. As is the way of things, they met each other and fell in love. However, they were beings of opposite natures, the Mother of the earth, and the Father of the sky." He waved his hand and the two figures melted into indistinct masses, one below and one above. "Thus, when the two embraced in their loving grasp," he paused as the two masses flowed toward each other and melded into one.

"So what you're saying, is that this is happening now?" I asked, squeamishly looking up at the innocent blue sky.

Sarongar smiled, "Indeed, you see, a certain someone at the Atlas base you are currently heading toward made the crucial mistake of taking the Essence of the Mother and attempting to use it to control the Agartha pathways. They then attempted to send something repugnant to Her through them… and she took exception to that."

My jaw dropped, "Wait… they're responsible for those things in Agartha?"

Sarongar nodded, "I had assumed they had left out that little detail. In any case, the reaction that the Mother had sent a shockwave of sorts, and now it has reached the Father. He was awakened from his ancient slumber and he now seeks to embrace his lover once more."

I looked at display in front of me, "So… that's a bad thing for everyone in between the two, right?"

"You are correct. Should you acquire the stone, I shall be able to fool my Father and stop this from occurring."

I leaned back and let out an explosive sigh; Just great, I now had another way that the world could effectively end. I blinked, "Oh right, so what exactly do you gain from that?"

His eyes flared up and his face twisted into a snarl, "The last time that happened, I received two new brothers, I have no wish for any more." He drummed his fingers on the table and sighed, "family is ever so bothersome after all, you of all people should be aware of this."

Okay, that touched a nerve, "Well, after all, it'll be difficult to accomplish this task without your power." I drawled, "I wonder if I could make a deal with Tulonpen, he probably would be amenable." I raised an eyebrow, "Particularly if I were to reveal a certain… problem someone had a while back that required a certain mortal to fix; I imagine he would find that quite…" I paused and my mouth quirked into my best insolent grin, "comical."

Sarongar's mouth twisted into a vicious sneer and his head and eyes went fully ablaze, washing over his sunglasses, his suit smoked as his fury mounted and for a moment I wondered if I had pushed him too far. I was, after all, playing with fire here…

Heh, I sure am funny when I'm absolutely terrified and trying not to show it. I could practically feel my skin blister as the elemental Great Lord of fire's rage flowed forth. My grin however, never wavered and somehow deep down I knew that if I backed down even an inch, it would be my death.

Finally, he snarled and pointed at me, "I will allow you to freely draw upon my power during your little mission." He informed me. "However, I expect you in return to bring me that stone. Fail in this…" he stood up and slapped his hand on the table, within seconds, it fell into ash. He looked at me and smiled savagely, "... well, I think you get the picture." he purred.

Abruptly, he straightened and the blazing aura cooled back to its usual smoldering. He nodded brusquely, "Until we meet again, Qrow Branwen." He erupted into a tongue of flame that burned so brightly that I had to avert my gaze. Then it disappeared, as quickly as it had come.

I let out a deep sigh as I stood up from the chair and began walking back to the landing site, deep in thought.

* * *

"Well?" Winter demanded when I got back.

"Well, what?" I asked.

"Is this contact of yours coming?"

I stopped, "Oh, right… do you have the things I needed?"

She pointed over at a plastic container that had been set to the side. I could see another airship had landed and some men in armor similar to hers were performing various duties, with two keeping guard over the crate. I walked over and opened it up. Arranged in a nice little row was a set of spoons shining in the sunlight, some handheld mirrors, and…

"Here we go." I said, picking up a bottle of whiskey, "come to papa." I screwed off the top and smelled it, letting out an appreciative sigh. "You guys even got the good stuff." I reached to my belt and pulled out a flask.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Winter demanded as I began filling it up with the whiskey.

"What? The whiskey was for me… oh, and for anyone who wants to stick around when she comes."

"'She'?" Winter inquired as I took a sip from the flask.

"Yeah, 'she', our contact, the one and only…" I paused for dramatic effect, "Baba Yaga."

Winter took a step back, her eyes wide, "Wait… what?"

"Yup, alright, so anyone with any pre-existing heart and blood pressure conditions should stay with the airships. Also anyone who's sticking around is gonna have to drink the whiskey enough to get buzzed so…" I gave Jaune a look, "anyone and everyone beneath drinking age needs to step out as well."

Jaune gave a bit of a huff but turned around and walked back into the airship and to my surprise, Kali followed him. Huh, I had never actually thought about how old she was, I had sometimes wondered if she was older than she looked because of the whole 'half-monster' thing, but I guess that wasn't the case.

"Is this really necessary?" One of Winter's men asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Sure is, people keeling over and dying really dampens the mood on the whole negotiation thing."

"What do you mean by that?" Winter asked.

"So what exactly have you heard about the Baba Yaga?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "Same as most I suppose, kidnaps children to eat, slaughters entire villages that disrespect her, in general very dangerous."

"Alright, so first off, that first one is almost certainly not true, although the reason for that myth is probably the reason why we're drinking the whiskey before we meet her. The second point almost definitely true, third point you bet your ass is true. Try to let me do the talking. If you do have to say something, be nothing but respectful. Whatever, you do, don't try to interrupt her, no matter how much she talks, there's a trick to getting her on topic; that's what the spoons are for."

I thought for a moment, then said, "Also, for the love of all that is holy, do not say anything about chickens." I told them, my face completely serious. I got a round of confused looks from everyone, but eventually they all nodded in acknowledgement

I looked around at everyone, "Okay, we'll try to bring as many people as we can, but if you aren't buzzed, then I expect you to stay behind; it's your life on the line. Everybody got that?" Nods around the clearing, "All right then," I lifted my flask high, "drink up."

* * *

Thirty minutes later our little group of Zorja, myself, Winter, and seven of her men entered a small clearing where a tall iron lamppost stood.

"How did this get here?" Winter wondered aloud as she gazed up at it.

I shrugged, "Beats me." I said as I pulled out the spoons and laid them out in a line in the grass. She gave me a surprised look and I raised an eyebrow in response, "What? I'm supposed to know everything? All I know is that it's here, and that this is where you can summon the Baba Yaga with a handy dandy whistle." Her face flushed red and I grinned, then turned to the man guarding the plastic container we had carried with us "Bring out the mirrors when I tell you, got it?" he looked to Winter, who nodded to him, and only then did he nod to me.

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the grass, "Alright, let's get this started." I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a worn wooden whistle, I took a deep breath, put it to my lips, and blew.

The sound echoed piercingly around the clearing, birds, disturbed by the noise, flew high into the air, their frightened calls echoing eerily throughout the clearing.

Winter and her men looked around nervously, "Is she coming?" Winter asked softly.

"Whom is the she and whither is she coming? Is she going? Indeed I say, that too is moot." A quick chattering voice came from our right. I let out a small sigh of relief as one of the soldiers nearly reflexively shouldered his weapon, but stopped himself at the last moment and lowered it slowly.

"Jumpy, jumping, hoppy, skipping." A blur erupted from the woods and a figure materialized in front of me, "I prefer myself, the art of the winding wind sailing. Hello, birdman, we meet again."

Baba Yaga resembled very much a Faunus woman, however the usual Faunus only possessed one distinct animal feature whereas she had several. She had large, furry squirrel ears that jutted out of the top of her head, and her hands ended in large dextrous raccoon paws. Her most notable feature however, was her tail, a red, bushy limb that was larger than she was, it twitched excitedly behind her as she regarded me.

I bowed my head, "It is a pleasure as always to gaze upon your fair visage my lady. How does this sweet autumn day find you?"

She cocked her head, "It does indeed find me well, however, I must say, never shall it find me should I want it not to."

I nodded, "Of course not, my lady."

She lifted her head to gaze up at the sun, "That is however, moot as well, for why should I hide from such a constant admirer, indeed it is meet I should not. One should admire the excellent taste of the admirer, for that is indeed-"

I judged now was the time to start the negotiations, so saying nothing, I picked up one of the spoons, making sure to present the concave side.

She immediately stopped talking and froze, her gaze fixed on the spoon. "Do you now indeed present to me, an offering?"

I waited to make sure she was done speaking, then nodded, "Indeed I do my lady, and many more like it, and indeed, greater than these if you are willing to bargain."

Faster than I could blink, she snatched the spoon from my hand and gazed into it, happily twisting her head from side to side as she looked upon her reflection. Finally, she reached for a satchel she had over her shoulder and dropped the piece of silverware in it. She then looked up at me with a hunger in her eyes.

"Indeed I am, as always, a gracious lady, and it is indeed my will that we should bargain." she answered eagerly.

I nodded, "My lady, my companions and I." I waved at the Atlesians and Zorja. "Require protection of the mind against the whispers of one vile in the eyes of nature."

Baba Yaga's eyes narrowed, "Vile you say? Do you happen, therefore, to know the name of the vile one for whom you require my whippery wiles?"

Winter stepped forward and bowed at the waist, "My lady, an avatar of a being that we were only able to identify by a title: The Whispering Man."

Baba Yaga froze, far more still than I had ever seen her before and I tensed, suddenly she let out an ear-piercing screech and vanished from sight.

"My lady!" I shouted, desperately looking around the clearing.

"The Dweller in the Dark!" Her panicked voice reverberated around the clearing, shaking the very ground with the depth of its power, "The Faceless God! Vile! Vile, yes! Dreaded, dreaded is his visage… Nyrlahotep." At that last word, a chill went through the clearing and I grasped my head as something cold and slimy writhed inside my mind and began chewing at it, I heard groans and gasps as everyone else fell under the same foul influence. My vision blurred in and out of focus as my mind began swirling and spinning...

 _Teeth, everything was teeth, the dark man, the dark man on the throne, oh how yellow the throne, he had **teeth** , biting, chewing, biting, chewing._ I screamed, barely able to hear myself over my thoughts whirling around and around, chasing one another endlessly as I descended into madness. _Chew, chatter, gnaw, **rip** , I walk, yes indeed I walk, into **empty** I walk, yes indeed, hello._

It was like a fever dream from which there was no waking, images flashed through my mind, far too rapidly for me to register. Thoughts and ideas bubbled to the surface and then popped, vanishing like steam into thin air. I let out a groan as I tried to rein in my thoughts, to bring myself back from the brink which my mind was straying so perilously close to.

It was too much for one of Winter's men, he began babbling incoherently in terror and reached down to his holster. Before anyone could stop him he had put his gun against his head and pulled the trigger; the booming retort echoed around the clearing and his body fell to the ground.

Then, as suddenly as the feeling had come, it disappeared. I gasped for air as my head slowly cleared. Winter snarled and instantly went to the man on the ground and began feeling for a pulse. Eventually, she stood up, shaking her head slowly "Damn it! What the hell was that?"

"That…" I said, "was a stupidly powerful being saying the true name of an even more ludicrously powerful being in the old tongue." I sighed as I stood up and thought about my next move, whatever the hell Ironwood had dug up, it had scared the hell out of Baba Yaga. I was gonna have to up the ante…

"Hey you," I pointed at one of the Atlas soldiers, "give me your scroll." He hesitated and turned to Winter.

"Just do it." Winter told him.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out the device, handing it to me. I quickly checked the charge and saw that it was nearly full. "My apologies my lady," I shouted, "I give to you an offering to show my sorrow for having disturbed you so."

I sat back down, put the scroll in front of me, and waited. There was no movement that announced her presence, she wasn't there one moment, the next she was. She stared at the scroll with a curious look in her eyes.

"Indeed this is a strange thing, a strange thing indeed…" she cautiously reached out a grabbed it. "Indeed I have seen these things before, these things I have seen, some I have yes but what is their worth, what is their worth indeed?"

I grimaced slightly as I felt my heart abruptly begin racing and I took a moment to breathe deeply to slow it. This was the reason I had everyone drink the whiskey, the Baba Yaga was an empath of sorts. She moved at a faster rate than humans, and when she got excited or agitated it got everyone around her trying to move at that same speed. The upshot of that meant that everything sped up, heart rate, rate of thinking, even your actual movement. For humans though, it was too much, and if you didn't do something to help take the edge off, you would go insane or die as your very blood vessels burst and your heart gave out as it tried to pump too fast. It also helped to bring other people, as that seemed to kind of keep the pace lowered down to the group's level. The fact that I was feeling this affected even with the whiskey and this many people attested to just how rattled she was by Winter's reveal.

"You can take pictures with it my lady, pictures of your own breathtaking beauty."

She preened a little and handed it back to me. "This you shall show me." she declared.

I quickly accessed the camera function, showing her how to do so as I did and then took a picture. She snatched it back and gave a squeal of delight as she saw the picture. "This is indeed, a great offering, a great offering indeed." She placed the scroll in her satchel.

"It will last only for a limited amount of time I'm afraid my lady; but, if it be your will, I will return to make physical copies of the pictures you take." I told her.

She clapped her paw-hands excitedly, "This is indeed a meet thing, a meet thing indeed, your apology is accepted." She stopped and bit her lip, "As of for the bargainings however, this is indeed a different matter, a different matter indeed."

I bowed my head to her, "My lady, I don't understand, you are forever a great ally against the creatures of darkness, will you not then aid us in this regard? I have for you," I waved my hand to the soldier next to the container, who opened it up. "Five finely wrought objects which will admire your beauty, in addition to those that you see before you."

She disappeared and I turned to see that she was staring into the container, the guard gave a yelp of surprise and took a step back.

"These are indeed fine admirers, fine admirers indeed..." She fell silent for a second… two… a drop of sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I watched her. Some far-off part of me marveled that this was the longest amount of time I had seen her be so silent for; the whole world seemed to hold its breath as Baba Yaga made her decision.

"Very well, due to your gracious offerings and these admirers, I will indeed help you, help you indeed I will."

I let out a sigh of relief and bowed, "You are most generous my lady."

She preened a little at the flattery as she reached into her satchel and pulled out a fist-full of bone necklaces, "My whippery wiles are great in these fine oxeperbe." She placed them in front of me, "They shall protect your minds from the vileness of the vile one."

I bowed to her, "My thanks, most gracious lady."

She turned her head from side to side, admiring her reflection in one of the mirrors, "You find the most gracious of admirers birdman." She murmured; then she looked up and I saw something that bordered on concern in her eyes. "Take care dear birdman, may we meet again in my fair presence."

Even as I bowed, my heart dropped; something in her tone made it clear that she didn't think that was very likely.

When I looked up she was gone, I smiled as I stood up and saw the guard who had been guarding the mirrors was staring, jaw dropped at the empty box they had been in.

Zorja stepped forward, "Damn Qrow, I think that's the most polite I've ever seen you."

I shrugged, "I mean, you saw what she can do, I think that's sufficient motivation for me to bring out the gentleman in me."

She raised an eyebrow, "How far down did you have to dig for that?"

I grinned, "Not far enough." I replied and I pulled out my flask from which I took a long drink.

Winter walked up to me, "So you're absolutely certain these things will work?" she picked up one of the necklaces from the ground and gave it a doubtful look.

I shrugged, "As sure as I can be, want to try another source you can be my guest, because she's by far the most benevolent of the beings that can make something like these."

Winter looked over at the dead body of the soldier who had shot himself, "I guess we don't have a choice." she said bitterly. "I just hope I don't lose anyone else before this is over."

I gave a harsh bark of laughter as I turned to walk back toward the airships, "If I had a lien for every time that hope didn't work out, I'd be able to afford the headstones for all their graves."


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter**

* * *

It was always the same damn nightmare; the worst part is that I knew in the back of my mind it was just a dream and I knew that it would play out the same way every time.

Yet that did knowledge nothing to lessen the pain and regret.

You see… I used to have a team. A group of crazy bastards that I recruited to help me fight against the monstrosities that had become a reality after the opening of the portal at Mountain Glenn. Most of them had been soldiers that had survived that hell hole; two of them were twins, a Huntsman and a Huntress that I had helped take out a cult that had been terrorizing the town they lived in. The last one was a knight from the Order of the Equinox, a captain who had decided that taking out those monsters was his calling, and that joining up with me was the best way of achieving that.

Two of the soldiers, Private Rama and Private Broderick, had been the first to die, killed by a bastard cultist who had quaffed an eldritch elixir that had made him grow massive spider limbs out of his back.

Then all but one of the soldiers had died, as well as the male twin of the Huntsman and Huntress duo when we had gone to kill a massive herd of shoggoths; huge slimy monstrosities that are a damn pain to kill; at a place called the Maze of the Beast. While there, we had also stopped some Deep Ones, fishy bastards that don't like humans very much, who were trying to raise the biggest and baddest of all shoggoths. Had they succeeded it probably would have resulted in half of Mistral being on the menu.

Neither of those were what I had nightmares about. That torment belonged to when I had failed everyone else.

We had cleared out a group of cultists that had been worshipping some kind of deity they had simply called "The Defiler" in Vacuo. In a moment of carelessness, I had let one escape with one of their holy texts. He had fled south of the city into the Mulvayat Wastes, where he had led us on a chase into a series of underground ruins filled with mummified lizard zombies. The nightmare always began in the room where we had found him, a massive room carved out of the rock, with a gigantic obsidian obelisk dominating the center of the room.

"Geez, look at the size of that thing…" Sergeant Hazel breathed, "Where in the hell did they find a piece of obsidian that big?"

"Look sharp," Sienna replied, she pulled back her bow and shot two arrows, each one found their mark in two of the zombie things that had been silently creeping towards us.

Sir Geralt had raised an eyebrow at the Huntress, "Is this really the time for word play?" He asked.

"There's never a bad time for that." I replied as I leveled my gun and blasted a third zombie.

"I don't get it." Sergeant Hazel replied as she swept her rifle around the room, searching for additional targets.

"Well you see, obsidian is unnaturally sharp, due to its mineral structure, therefore when Sienna said to 'look sharp' it-"

"Alright, alright, enough, I get it." The sergeant's eyes widened as she looked toward the obelisk, "Hey, there he is!"

Sure enough, there in front of us was the cultist we had been chasing was prostrated at the base of the obelisk, chanting in the old tongue wildly, his distinctive green and black robes ripped and torn.

"Think you two can make the shot from here?" I asked Sienna and Sergeant Hazel.

The two looked at each other, "You get the head, I get the heart?" Sienna asked her.

"You're on." Hazel replied. She shouldered her rifle and Sienna pulled back the bow.

Something nagged at me even as they set up and time slowed as I looked back over at the cultist. The man had got to his knees and twisted his head around to look at us, yet made no move to take cover or escape, the fear or resignation that I might have expected was absent from his eyes.

In fact, they almost looked triumphant.

I turned to try and stop the two, but it was too late, the arrow flew and the sound of gunfire rent the air as the missiles sped toward their target.

You see, I used to think the answer to stopping any ritual was killing the one doing the ritual. To be fair, that tactic worked 99.99% of the time.

But it was always that last 0.01% that got you.

There was a _thwack_ as the arrow and bullets hit home; blood flew from gaping wounds. Instead of doing us all a favor and croaking instantly; the cultist reared back and let out a cry of exultation, "Devourer! Y'golonac! I offer you my life, may it satisfy your hunger! Here on the steps of Osmogoth!" He swayed and then fell flat to the ground once more, completely still.

"Well that was easy enough." Sergeant Hazel said.

"Well there was the army of those zombie things in the way." Sienna pointed out.

"There was that." The sergeant replied.

"Ladies…" Sir Geralt said as he raised his shield and his chain-pike began spinning up. "I think you may have spoken too soon."

Because the cultist's corpse was moving.

Even as I watched, the body stood to its feet and began _shifting_. The head shrank back down into the body, even as its frame began to expand, becoming a ball of flesh that stretched the robes obscenely.

My team knew better than to just sit there, and soon gunfire rent the air and arrows streaked across the room, slamming into the figure. It jerk and shuddered as perforations rent themselves in the green and black cloth surrounding its body.

Yet it refused to go down.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hazel's gun clicked empty and she reached down at the pouch to her side to reload.

"That's quite enough of that." A deep, slimy voice echoed throughout the room, and suddenly Hazel's body jerked, and then exploded.

Sienna screamed and I let out a strangled sound as blood and gore rained down upon us. Sir Geralt wasted no time, and let out an enraged battle cry. He began chanting the mantra of his order as he lowered his pike and charged forward; his steel boots pounding on the stone floor.

The voice let out a chuckle and the figure lifted its hands with its palms facing us. The knight's battle chant cut short as he let out a grunt, his momentum stopped cold, checked by some invisible force. He let out another roar and took one determined step forward.

"Hmm… how entertaining." The voice mused, and my eyes widened in horror as I realized that the voice was coming from mouths filled with razor thin teeth on the figure's palms. Before I could even blink, the creature closed both of his hands into fists and Sir Geralt let out a scream as the sound of crinkling metal echoed throughout the room. The knight struggled as his very armor began crushing down on him; he coughed, a stream of blood erupting from his lips. Impossibly, he lifted his leg and took another step, then another, before finally falling limp.

"No!" Sienna shouted as she nocked more arrows to her bow, the figure opened his palms and something lashed out, shooting towards the Huntress. I swung my sword, slicing through the tentacle-like limb; eliciting a cry of rage from the creature. The protrusion fell to the ground and began writhing there, I grimaced in revulsion as I realized that it was a tongue, pink and slimy.

With a roar, I rushed towards the figure, who laughed as he lifted a hand. Suddenly I was lifted high into the air, gasping for air as some invisible force closed around my throat.

There was shout of rage behind me and I saw a single arrow fly towards the creature, scoring his cheek, who let out a snarl and I dropped to the floor, the force vanishing. I vaguely registered the ominous sound of something clattering to the ground, but I was already moving, my focus solely on the monstrosity in front of me.

Time moved in slow motion as it lifted its hand calmly, then it spasmed and it took a step backwards, as if in surprise. I didn't wait for it to recover, flames whirled around my blade as I invoked the flames of Sarongar and swung with all my might.

The creature froze, then slowly fell to the ground, its frame shrank down until it was once more the form of the cultist, his eyes locked on me, full of confusion. Then they glazed over and he collapsed to the ground.

I ignored him and spun around, praying that the sound I had heard earlier didn't mean what I think it did.

Sienna was on her knees, looking in horror at the tongue, which had punched straight through her stomach. Suddenly she jerked and her gaze shot up to me, her eyes filled with horror.

I ran to her side, "Sienna! Come on, hold still I'll get this thing out, then we can-" I was cut off as her hand shot to my throat clasping around it with inhuman strength.

"So…" My heart sank as I recognized the voice from before. "This is the best the Guardian of Remnant and his stooges can muster? I'll be honest, I was hoping for mor-" Sienna's face twisted, as though from some internal struggle. Abruptly the Huntress gasped, and I could tell from her eyes she was in control once more. Her grip released from my throat and I coughed as I breathed deeply.

"Please, Qrow… I can feel it… it's everywhere… can't… stop… please… end-" She let out another gasp, "Can't hold…" Her eyes locked with mine, pleading.

I reared my sword back, tears in my eyes. "Sienna…" I choked on the words, "I'm sorry." With a heavy heart, I swung the sword even as her eyes began to change once more-

* * *

I gasped as I flailed desperately, my entire body drenched in a cold sweat. When I had finally regained my composure, I realized that I was lying down on one of the seats in the cargo bay of the airship. The floor rumbled slightly beneath me as I lay there gulping down deep breaths. I sat up and reached down to my belt, yanked out the flask with the whisky and drank deeply.

"Bad dreams?" Zorja asked me from the seat across from mine.

I grimaced as the alcohol burned in my throat, "Nah, what gave you that impression?" I replied as I capped the flask.

She critically eyed my completely disheveled appearance, "Uh huh." She leaned back in her chair, "Anyway, there was something I wanted to ask."

I shrugged, "Shoot."

"Well, so I kind of get with the Baba Yaga, the whole 'don't interrupt her, be respectful thing'. So what's the deal with the warning about chickens?"

"Oh right," I put the flask back on my belt, "So this stretches way back to when people were first starting to write about eldritch creatures. So the story is that it was a trickster deity that coordinated with the person who wrote about the Baba Yaga. That deity apparently thought it would be a hoot if he told the illustrator that the Baba Yaga had chicken legs."

Zorja's eyebrows rose, "Hmm… having met her I can easily imagine how _that_ went wrong."

I nodded, "Yeah, so anyway, she's held a grudge about it ever since. Beyond destroying any of those illustrations, she also will wholesale slaughter any chicken she sees and if you so much as mention them she gets a little… miffed."

"Well, that's interesting if nothing else." She admitted.

Winter's voice came over the intercom, "We're about ten minutes out, get your gear ready."

I flipped off the speaker and grabbed my weapon across from me, Zorja frowned, then looked around the airship, a pensive expression on her face.

"Something on your mind?" I asked her.

"So, something's occurred to me." She said, "She probably could have chosen any airship, right?"

I frowned, "Yeah?"

"So then she specifically chose a Taurus-class airship. You noticed that all of the other airships she brought were the same class right?"

I thought back to the clearing, "Huh, come to think of it, you're right."

She leaned forward, "These things are junk." She said flatly, "They handle poorly, they're not very fast, and to be honest there's only one reason to ever pick them over anything else."

My heart skipped a beat as I thought I saw where she was going with this, "And that's if you need it to be able to take a hell of a beating." I said.

Zorja nodded, "We are breaking into an Atlesian facility after all." She said, "So I suppose it's not entirely unexpected. She got out of the chair and stretched, "There's a safety belt under the chair that you can hook on for when things get hairy." She told me, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go make sure that Jaune and Kali are alright."

She walked out the door and I was bending over to check under the seat when everything around me began shaking.

A few seconds later the whole airship _jumped_ as a massive explosion echoed outside. "What the hell was that?" I yelled.

Zorja ducked into the room, "Just some anti-aircraft batteries… I imagine decently powered too, it takes a lot to shake one of these hunks of junk."

Another explosion resounded outside and the ship shook once more, I grit my teeth as I found the safety belt and quickly pulled it up around me.

"Damn it! I hate flying!" I said through gritted teeth. I heard a snort and I turned to see Zorja looking at me with hands on her hips.

"Says the man who goes around flying as a bird."

"Yeah well… that's different!" I retorted, "I'm not being fired at by frickin' anti-aircraft guns then."

"Or you just don't like your fate being put in someone else's hands." She answered.

Another explosion, and once more the ship shook violently, "Really? Now of all times you're going to psychoanalyze me?"

"Why not? Stress is an excellent catalyst." Suddenly the shaking stopped and I warily looked around the airship as the sounds of explosions faded in the distance.

"Sounds like we're through the belt," Zorja said conversationally, "That means that those are likely only automated defenses, there are usually all kinds of fail safes on those things so that they're not launching shells at what they're supposed to be protecting."

"So… can I take this thing off now?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "If it makes you feel better then sure, Winter said we should be arriving any second now-" The aircraft shook again and Zorja slammed into the hull. "What the hell?" She demanded.

"Qrow, Zorja." Winter's voice came over the intercom. "We've got problems."

* * *

Our 'problems' were in the shape of what appeared to be Nevermores… but far smaller than any I had seen, all of them about as large as a human. They were whirling around the airships, diving in and raking their claws against them before flying away away.

"I've got someone hacking into the facility's hangar doors to get them open, but it's going to take some time." Winter explained to us, "I need you two to keep these things off of us."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" I asked her.

Abruptly I felt Zorja put her hand on my shoulder and I turned to see her with a wicked grin on her face that made my heart sink. "Oh… you're gonna _love_ this." She told me.

"So just who the hell designs an airship and thinks; 'you know what? We need some way to defend the things from aerial attacks' and then goes, 'I've got it! We'll give them magnetic boots! That way they can walk out like idiots onto the wing!'"

Zorja shrugged, "Apparently the Laisren did, and don't knock it, this little tactical innovation has saved my ass a hundred times against Grimm." She lightly patted the pommel of the giant maul that had been in the arms locker; which had also contained the knee high monstrosities that were now on both of our legs.

I had heard of mag-boots before, upon activation, the Lightning Dust in them ran a current down through the soles of the boot, which contained Magnet Dust, creating a magnetic force that allowed people to walk along the sides of airships to perform maintenance and other tasks while in flight.

Or, apparently, beat the ever living crap out of things that were attacking the airship. In all of my years, I had never imagined I was unlucky enough to have to wear these things. Apparently there was always a new low to hit.

Zorja clomped up to the airlock over the wing and turned to me, "You ready?" She asked me.

I grit my teeth and steeled myself, "Let's do this." I told her. She grinned in response and slammed open the door.

* * *

I followed her out onto the wing and immediately some instinct screamed at me to duck. I obeyed it instantly, not a second later air whooshed past my head and I heard one of the creatures shriek with rage as its wicked talons passed a hand's breadth above my head.

I looked up in time to see a second one streaking toward me, I let out a shout as I whipped out my sword, and delivered an overhand strike that collided with it in a sickening _crunch_. The creature went limp and fell away into the void.

"Damn it, it was too much to hope for that they were just Grimm." I murmured to myself. I shouted the invocation for my weapon and it went ablaze just in time for three more of the bird creatures to streak toward me.

I let out a snarl as I swung my blade, slicing two of them in half and leaving the third missing a leg.

I heard wild laughter and turned to see Zorja swinging her maul as though it was a toy, crushing any of the creatures that dared get close. "Ah, this makes me feel _young_ again!" She shouted to me. She swept the maul around her head and batted away one of the creatures as it dove at her.

I grinned at her enthusiasm as I quickly switched my sword into gun mode and blasted several of the things that had started going for easier prey. The chamber clicked empty and I began to reload when I heard a gasp of pain.

My heart leapt into my throat and I whirled around to see that one of those creatures had gotten behind Zorja and gotten its talons stuck in her back. It flapped wildly, trying to pull her away from the wing of the airship, evading her wild strikes. I let out a yell and began to stomp my way toward her, even as I watched, one of her boots came away from the metal. She pivoted on the one boot, swinging her arms in an attempt to keep her balance releasing her grip on the maul, the weapon flew out into the air and plummeted toward the ground below.

She flung her arms wildly overhead, trying to bat the thing away with her bare hands, I lifted my gun, took careful aim, and fired, connecting solidly with its head. It feel limp, and dropped, hanging loosely from her back like some grotesque backpack.

Before she could regain her footing, another one of the creatures swooped in and collided with her chest, its sharp claws scrambling to pierce her chest armor. I cursed as I reached for another round, damn it, I wasn't going to make it with these damn boots slowing me down. Maybe if I-

I never got to complete that thought as the creature's claws finally found purchase, sinking deep into Zorja's torso. She let out a scream and there was a flash of unnatural blue light, temporarily blinding me.

When my vision had restored itself, I gagged with horror. Zorja's entire right arm had _changed,_ it was covered with a white, chitinous substance that even as I stared I realized was bone. It twisted around her arm, ending in five nightmarishly long fingers that glinted in the pale moonlight. Even as I watched, she let out a yell and slammed the limb into the creature, the fingers piercing its flesh like tissue paper. The creature let out a screech of pain, then fell still. Zorja finally slammed her other foot back onto the wing, regaining her balance. She stood there for a moment in shock, staring at her alien-looking limb. Then she fell slowly to her knees, her eyes wide with disgust and terror.

She turned to me, "What the hell is happening to me?" She asked softly, barely audible over the screeching of the creatures.

It must have been the curse that Kali had been talking about, I thought, but she had said that it was going to be slow acting...

'Stress is an excellent catalyst.' Zorja's own words echoed in my head, somehow the fight must have accelerated its progress.

Before I could theorize further, the ship began descending rapidly and I looked in the distance to see a large dome like structure with a massive, gaping hole that lead into its interior. I guessed that it was the hangar that Winter had been talking about.

"Qrow?" I winced at the desperation in her voice.

"I… I don't know Zorja." I told her truthfully, "Whatever it is, we'll fix it, let's get inside and Kali can…"

"No, Qrow… I can hear him… whispering inside my head…" Her face twisted in anguish, "The Weaver, he… he wants me to…" Her nightmarish limb spasmed and she grit her teeth. "To kill you… no… to _consume_ you…" Suddenly her face went calm and to my horror she reached down to her boots, with a sharp _click_ she deactivated her left mag-boot.

Oh Maidens no, not again.

"Stop!" I shouted, "Zorja, fight it, we can-"

"I'm not going to turn into one of those things, Qrow…" She said stubbornly, her hand hovering over her right boot's switch, "I refuse to be forced to hurt those I care about..." She smiled sadly and my heart felt like it was going to tear in two. "It's been a good ride… take care of yourself, Qrow Branwen." And with that, she deactivated her remaining boot and threw herself off the wing, falling to the ground far below.

And just like that… I had failed again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to MasterofBones and TehGramarPolise for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

"Do the words, 'urgent mission' mean absolutely anything to you?" I called from where I was leaning against the wall.

"Don't you know, a girl can't just go out… she has to look her best." Zorja replied from behind the door.

I sighed, "Well then, might as well brief you while I'm waiting."

"Shoot."

"This cult, the Church of the Starry Wisdom? They're holed up in one of the abandoned warehouses in the northern section of the industrial district."

She grunted, "Never let it be said that you don't take me to the nicest places."

"Anyway, from what I gathered there's roughly thirty of them, give or take... they've armed themselves from an old military stockpile. They also have a couple of these creatures that they call, 'Thralls of the Faceless One', whatever the hell that means."

"Hmmm…" She opened the door and I raised an eyebrow at her appearance. "What? I got something on my face?"

"I didn't think you would dye your hair." I remarked.

She shrugged as she began inspecting her rifle, "If I'm coming out of retirement to kick ass, I'm not going to do so with gray hair."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but purple seems like it's a bit overdoing it."

She rolled her eyes, "Screw you, Qrow." She pulled the bolt back on the rifle and leaned it on her shoulder, "Let's go kill the bastards."

She began walking to the door, "Zorja?" She stopped and turned to face me, "About Luna and Ari… I'm sorry."

Her face suddenly grew somber and she seemed to visibly age before my eyes. She reached down to her throat and pulled out a set of dog tags.

"They died doing what was right." She told me, as her gaze wandered over them. "They wouldn't have had it any other way."

She seemed to consider that for a moment and then sighed, "You know… Luna never gave up on you." She told me, "She tried to find you after you closed that portal, but you had already disappeared. Then we heard about how you had lost your team. After that she and Ari started hunting those things. I think in a way she was trying to pick up where you had left off… and so that she could somehow prove herself to you."

She paused for a moment, "I have to admit, I've been wondering how things would have been different had you given her and you a chance."

My heart felt like a knife had been driven through it, "Why tell me this?" I asked quietly.

She put the dog tags away, then looked me right in the eyes, "Because she would've wanted you to keep on living." She told me, "And part of that means accepting the fact that it's worth losing people if it means that you let them into your life."

I grimaced at the thinly veiled accusation and she turned back to the door, "Come on," She said, her voice rough with emotion, "Let's go get those sons of a bitches."

* * *

The memory flashed in and out of focus as I came back into the airship in a daze. I didn't even take off my mag-boots, instead clomping my way back into the cargo back, where I slumped into a seat. I sat like that for a long time, just simply staring at the floor beneath my feet; I was snapped out of it when Jaune came pelting into the room.

"Hey Qrow, Winter-" He stopped abruptly, "Where's Zorja?"

I pulled out my flask of whiskey and uncapped it, "Gone." I mumbled.

He froze and his eyes widened, "Oh…" I ignored him and belted down the whiskey in the flask. "Qrow… I'm so sor-"

"So what did Winter want?" I asked abruptly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

His eyes avoided my gaze, "She wanted you to come to the cockpit." He mumbled, "Something about intercepted transmissions."

I grunted and got a tad unsteadily to my feet, "Alright," I tossed him two of the Baba Yaga's bone necklaces. "One's for you, give that other one to Kali. I'll meet you outside." I told him and pushed my way past him.

I arrived outside the cockpit door and tipped back my head, draining the last drops of alcohol from the flask. I lowered the empty container and stared at it for a moment; all at once, rage washed over me and I slammed it to the ground. Just then, the cockpit door opened and Winter walked out, her pale blue eyes flicked from the metal flask, then back up to my face.

"What did you want, Ice Queen?" I sneered at her.

She was quiet for a moment, "Where are Jaune and Kali?" She asked.

"They should be outside, waiting for you to say whatever you think is so important." I bent down and retrieved the flask, attaching it once more to my belt.

Her gaze fixated on me with a fierce intensity, "I saw what happened to Zorja." She told me.

A spark lit into a fiery storm in my head and I glared at her in fury, "Spare me your sympathy." I spat.

She sighed, "You're not the only one who's lost comrades you know." She informed me.

I snorted, "You don't know anything bitch." I snarled.

"So tell me." She said bluntly.

I grit my teeth, seething as a white hot rage flowed through me, "You think you've lost people? I lost Summer and Raven both in a single night, one a teammate I had known for years, the other my own sister. Then one by one I lost the team of men and women stupid enough to follow me!" I glared at her, "You weren't at Mountain Glenn," I told her, "You weren't there when that portal opened, and you sure as hell weren't with me when those monsters poured out into the streets."

I fell limp as the rage snuffed itself out, leaving me empty, "Zorja was," I took a shuddering breath. "She was the last, of the soldiers, Huntsmen, Huntresses, mercenaries, and knights that stood with me that night, she was the last."

"What about your last teammate?" She asked me.

I snorted, "Taiyang? Not only did the things from Mountain Glenn break him; but he's also the one who got Summer killed."

She raised an eyebrow, "I had heard that you blamed him for that."

"Because it's true," I snapped back.

"How?"

"It was on the night the portal first opened." I told her, "Taiyang froze up, got hit by a creature called a Ickulathon, cut his stomach wide open."

Winter's eyes widened, "How is he still alive? Getting cut by one of those things... even a scratch is a death sentence because of the corrupting agent."

I gave her a macabre grin, "C'mon, I thought Atlas had files on everyone, you're telling me you don't know what Summer's Semblance was?"

She frowned, "Summer Rose: Healing Factor Semblance," She recited under her breath. "Mode of operation: Wound Transfer. She would heal people by taking a much less severe copy of the wound herself." She froze. "Oh no." She breathed.

I cracked my neck, "Yup, healed Taiyang right up… but that toxin or whatever the hell it is? That stuck with her." I shrugged, "Didn't realize it at the time." I said. "It was only when she fell deathly ill that I learned the truth… and by then it was too late."

"Don't tell me she turned into one of those… things."

I shook my head, "No, she didn't turn into a ghoul, I think she had figured it out before I did. Before she started losing control, she took on a suicide mission; went deep into a really nasty place called the Fallen City of Noradz. She-" I grimaced, "told me to make absolutely certain she didn't come back." I finished quietly.

Winter's eyes softened, "I'm sorry." She said softly. I shrugged in response and her face abruptly hardened once more. "How though do you think she or Zorja would react if they saw you like this? When so much is at stake?"

"Don't you dare give me that crap." I grunted back, "You've never lost anyone you cared about to these things; just your little Atlesian patsies.."

"They were valued comrades, one and all." She replied.

"Right, what was the name of that guy who offed himself in the clearing then?" I demanded.

She glared at me, "Paranormal Specialist 343."

I threw her a macabre grin, "See? You don't even-"

"They killed my brother." She said quietly, her voice filled with barely restrained rage. My grin vanished as I processed what she had said, her eyes widened briefly, as though she was surprised that she had let that slip.

She recovered her composure and tossed her head angrily, "What? Don't you have anything snide to say to that?"

"How did it happen?" I asked gently.

She flinched and stepped back, "He... " She lifted her chin, "He was out in the garden one night." She told me, "When those… monsters… rampaged through the estate." She turned and walked over to look out the front of the airship.

"They were shaped like massive black dogs." She said, her voice devoid of emotion. "With red, glowing eyes and teeth like a shark's. They killed our guards, so quickly that they didn't even raise the alarm. Then they came for the rest of us." She paused, "I… I locked the doors, began locking down the main building. He…" She bit her lip, "He didn't make it in… I saw him banging on the doors; but they were right behind him. I knew if I opened them, those things would kill everyone else who had made it inside. Myself, my mother, my father… my sister." She took a deep breath. "So I let him die… let those _things_ tear him to shreds… right before my very eyes."

Her hand dashed across her face, so quickly that I barely registered it. Were those _tears_? I stood there, stunned by the uncharacteristic display of emotion.

"The official story was that it was Grimm that had slipped by the walls." She continued as though nothing had happened. "I knew better, I had already been attending Atlas Academy, and those looked like no Grimm that I had even heard of. When my inquiries reached General Ironwood's ears, he personally recruited me to the Atlesian Paranormal Division."

She whirled on me, her eyes hard, "From then on, I swore that I would eradicate them, and anything like them." She walked past me and paused at the door, "If I don't succeed, make my life _mean_ something, then my brother will have died in vain." She turned her head to glare at me, "So you see… I _do_ know how you feel.. So I ask you again… do you really want them to have died for nothing?"

She opened the door, "Hey, Ice Queen." She stopped and turned her head slightly to look at me.

I hesitated then shook my head, "For what it's worth… I'm sorry about your brother; no one should ever have to go through that." She didn't respond and I held out a hand, "I won't let Zorja's death compromise the mission; I promise."

She turned imperiously and clasped my hand, shaking it firmly, "That's all I ask." She responded curtly; then she whirled around and walked out the door.

I stood frozen there for a moment, then leaned back against the wall, I hadn't talked about any of that stuff to anyone before, why the hell had I picked her of all people? Then a thought struck me that I wasn't sure was comforting or depressing.

With everyone else dead from Mountain Glenn, she was probably the last person alive that had shared in the horrors I had experienced. My relation with the Atlesian Paranormal Division had never been overly friendly; but at the end of the day, they wanted to protect Remnant as well. They had made sacrifices to that end, and now I knew, apparently Winter more than most.

Like it or not, in a world in which I had lost everyone else who could possibly understand the nightmares I went through, Winter Schnee probably understood me better than anyone else.

I looked morosely down at the empty flask at my belt, let out a heavy sigh, and began walking.

* * *

I emerged from the ship feeling slightly more sober to find that the Atlesian forces under Winter had already created a defensive perimeter around the airships. I looked over to see her talking with one of the soldiers, her posture and face as severe as ever; completely devoid of the emotion she had shown on the airship.

"Qrow!" I turned to see Kali walking toward me, her eyes full of sympathy. "I heard what happened to Zorja." She said, "It's my fault, if I had just been able to-"

I waved her off, "It's not your fault." I told her. "She died like she would've have wanted, killing a bunch of monstrosities with a giant hammer."

She froze and then smiled sadly, "From what little time I was blessed to have known her, I think I agree." She cocked her head and put her hand on my shoulder, her eyes locking onto mine. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No," I grimaced, "I'm not. I'm drunk, tired, and so mad that I'm gonna need to break a whole lot of things." I winked at her, "So whatever is in this hell hole doesn't stand a chance."

She didn't look convinced, and I sighed. "Look, I can mourn later, for now, I need to make sure that this mission succeeds so that she didn't die for nothing. I'm not going to accomplish that by moping around."

She nodded, "Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

I nodded, "Appreciated." Then I frowned as I looked around, "Where's Jaune?" I asked her.

She pointed to where an Atlesian rifleman was speaking with him, a high powered rifle in the young Hunstman's hands.

"Apparently his sword can't turn into a gun, so they're trying to bring him up to speed on how to use one of theirs." Jaune lifted the rifle and pulled the trigger, then let out a cry as the recoil from the gun almost threw him back on his ass.

She winced, "It hasn't been going particularly well."

"Alright! Everyone in the infiltration team gather up!" Winter called out.

I raised an eyebrow, "I think that's us."

* * *

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Winter commanded, "You all are being give Omega security clearance, as such you will be receiving these scrolls." She began passing out the devices to the group. "Which contain a map of the entire facility. They also have a program that will scan pictures that you take and attempt to sync them up to the Atlas Paranormal Threat Registry. It will then give you what information that is available on the threat. Your orders are to destroy everything and anything of eldritch origin."

She swiped on her own scroll to move around on the map that was displayed there. "We are currently in the hangar bay here." She pointed at a large red dot, "We will be proceeding along the hangar access corridor, and into the main lobby. Once there, we will proceed down into the heart of the facility to the fourth basement floor. We will then go to the shard's containment chamber and destroy it. Any questions?"

"How are we going to destroy the shard?" One of the soldiers asked.

She pulled out a small metal box, "Contained in here is a clay vessel containing pure anima. Upon breaking, it will essentially release a small explosion of pure spiritual energy that should annihilate the shard. If that fails, Qrow Branwen will advise. His experience in matters supernatural surpasses even our own organization's."

I took a moment to marvel that she had managed to say that without any trace of bitterness as I grinned and waved my hand nonchalantly to the group.

"Any other questions?" She asked.

"What threats can we expect?" Another soldier asked, a huge brute of a man with practically no neck.

"This was our primary containment and research facility. Expect most threats to be of Daemon-classification or higher. As you know the necklaces that you're wearing will protect against mental influence. However, rule out nothing else, our best chance of completing this mission will be to adapt quickly to whatever we find in there." She answered, "Any more questions?"

The group was silent. "Alright then, keep those bone necklaces on and let's lock and load."

* * *

We walked down the corridor leading to the main lobby for what seemed like forever. The only sounds were our footsteps and the occasional curt words exchanged by the soldiers. Mostly along the lines of 'I don't see anything' followed by 'cool'.

Finally, we came to a large metal door. No-neck nodded to another one of the soldiers, a short, stout woman. "Breach it." He commanded.

The woman nodded and pulled out a small charge and placed it on the door. She tapped a few buttons and then jerked a thumbs up to the man before moving to the side. He motioned to the three other soldiers and they took up positions covering the door with their rifles.

"Three, two, one." He said, and then pressed the detonator. I covered my eyes as the explosive went off, the noise reverberating around the corridor. The soldiers rushed in and I followed closely behind… and then retched as I saw what lay beyond.

There was a pile of bodies stacked one on top of the other, a pile that must have had at least a hundred or so corpses. Flies buzzed around them lazily, flying into mouths still wide in silent screams. Blood congealed at the pile's base, and I had to breathe through my mouth due to the stench.

Then I frowned as I looked up above the pile to see a large banner, 'Welcome to the Carnival at the End of the World!' was written in what could only have been blood.

Something stepped out of the shadows, and I immediately leveled my gun at it. At first I thought it was some kind of hairy beast. Then it spoke, "Hello visitors! Have you come to take a tour? Perhaps to partake in a tour… or are you the _tour_ and I'm the visitor?" He threw back his head and began letting out a wheezing cackle.

I gasped as I recognized the voice, "Oh hell." I muttered.

Because the man standing before us, still laughing madly at his own wit, was General Ironwood.


	16. Chapter 16

**Apologies that this one took so long to get out, just as a heads up, the imagery will be becoming kind of graphic for the next few chapters. Thanks as always to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter**

* * *

You know, I can count on one hand how many times I've seen James Ironwood smile. That is, if I could now, I'd only be lifting a single finger.

That is, I reflected as I examined the wreck of a man in front of me, if you counted the face splitting manic expression that he was wearing now as a smile. I had to admit though; clean up his beard and hair, restore his sanity, and the guy actually had a pretty nice smile.

"General Ironwood?" Winter asked, a slight tremor of uncertainty leaking through her usual confidence.

The man scratched at his beard, "I am Ironwood, but a General? The only thing I command here is the Carnival!" He gestured grandly at the bloody banner behind him while still brandishing that half-smile of his.

"We thought you were dead, sir." one of the soldiers remarked.

Ironwood cocked his head, "The way you say that… do you work for me?"

The soldier blinked, "Well of-"

"Course not." I interrupted abruptly, "After all, it's like you said, we're visitors here."

The other soldiers all gave me a strange look but I met Winter's gaze and she nodded. There wasn't anything concrete, but the way the deranged man in front of us had asked that question had sent shivers down my spine. In addition, even if the man in front of us could very well be Ironwood, his mind was completely gone; for all intents and purposes General Ironwood was dead, and we didn't know what this thing in front of us was.

Ironwood sighed, "Well phooey, Carol could have really used the help, isn't that right, Carol?"

An anguished, croaking moan came from the darkness and my eyes followed it to a desk where a shadowed figure appeared to be seated in front of a computer. It appeared vaguely human-shaped, but something about it twisted my stomach.

The man shook his head, "Never enough hands to get everything done you know?" He clapped his hands and vigorously rubbed his palms together. "So then, are you here for the tour?"

"That depends on what the tour entails." I answered non-committally, my gun still leveled at him, but he ignored the weapon as his eyes lit up.

"Ah! What else my friend, but a jaunt through the most fantastic carnival to grace Remnant with its presence! What else but a place of wonder, magic, and marvels beyond comprehension? It is the one, the only, The Carnival at the End of the World!"

He spread his arms and I blinked as I saw what I thought had been some kind of fur coat parted, revealing itself to be a cape that shone a brilliant red on the inside, showing us what was hidden underneath.

The madman was wearing a ring leader's outfit that was a pale yellow, a stark contrast to the blood red of the underside of the cape. He reached both hands behind his back and from out of nowhere produced a black top hat in one hand and a long coiled whip in the other. He put the hat on top of his head and gave the whip a _crack_ with the other, eliciting the strange, ear-grating moan from before.

"Right, so what kind of attractions would we be seeing?" I asked.

Ironwood beamed, "Why all sorts!" He enthused. He lifted his hands, since when had he been wearing white gloves? "Naturally,we first will be watching the Law-master presentation of the Carnival's rules, of which there are few. Don't worry, it will prove to be quite delightful; next we will be riding the Montecarlo Express where, if we're lucky, we just might be accosted by our very own Sunshine Twins!"

He spread his arms wide, "Then we shall arrive to the main body of our attractions! First shall be the Fun-House, after which we shall enter onto the Fairgrounds themselves, where in order to proceed, each person will have to play a game. I shall explain more when we come to it; suffice it to say, to enter the lovely Casbah and enjoy the wonderful shows there, one must pay for admission. And after that…"

The mad general's eyes twinkled, "You will see our star attraction… the big one, the most apocalyptic of apocalypses… The End of the World."

"So!" Ironwood rubbed his hands together, "Are we ready to proceed?"

"Just a quick question," I asked, "What if we wanted to just, you know, explore on our own?"

Ironwood gave a small pout, "I'm afraid I can't allow that, visitors must stay with the tour guide at all times."

"Figures." I muttered, I turned to Winter, "Alright, group huddle."

We stepped away from the General who stood there patiently with the manic smile still plastered on his face, the soldiers slowly followed after us.

"Okay, so here's the deal, this place absolutely stinks of all kinds of eldritch magic gone wrong." I said, "Kind of a 'no shit' thing there, but the nature of this just changed dramatically. It will not help us to have an army here. the threats here are probably not a bunch of scary monsters, so much as making sure we follow the law of the land."

"So you want to send some people back?" Winter asked me.

I nodded, "I was thinking you, Kali, me, and then maybe two other people; preferably people who have dealt with this kind of stuff before."

Winter bit her lip then nodded, "Paranormal Specialist 117 and 432."

The huge man with no-neck and the stout woman from before gave sharp salutes. "You two will be going with us, everyone else, hold this position, but if it becomes untenable, your orders are to get back to the airships. If Ironwood comes back without us, send one more team in and if that fails then get a message to the Council and initiate Operation Broken Scepter."

"Hold up," I interjected, "What's Operation Broken Scepter?"

Winter shrugged, "It's rather simple really, the condition for the Operation is if the Atlesian Paranormal Division is compromised to the point where it cannot fulfill its function. Once it is initiated, the Council of Atlas is given Omega security clearance."

I grunted, "So basically you tell them everything about what goes bump in the night?"

"Essentially, yes." Winter answered.

I turned to the soldiers, "Would you mind also telling Ozpin if I don't come back?" The soldiers gazed at me nonplussed, but nodded as one. "Thanks."

"Fall out!" Winter called and the soldiers other than the two she had singled out began setting up defensive positions in the lobby.

I turned to Kali, "Kali and…" I frowned, "Where's Jaune?"

Kali grinned and pointed behind her, "He fainted so I put him on the couch." I looked behind her and sure enough, there was the kid passed out cold on a tattered leather couch. I sighed, "Damn it, we can't afford to not take him… go wake him up, would you? Then like, cover his eyes or something, I don't know." Kali nodded and walked over to him.

"You're sure you want to bring him?" Winter whispered.

I let out a frustrated hiss, "I don't _want_ him to even _be_ here, but what I want has no bearing on reality." I grimaced, "It sucks for him but Jaune was given the power to freely channel anima; that means he's gonna have to walk with us into this nightmare."

She winced slightly, "You're right, I'm sorry. It was unfair of me to ask that."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, "Life ain't fair, not your fault." I answered as Kali half-dragged Jaune over to our little group. Once we were all assembled, I turned back to Ironwood, who had been patiently waiting.

"Okay, us six are going… where do we sign up?" I asked him.

Ironwood clapped his hands excitedly, "Goodie, goodie, goodie! Come right this way over to Carol please!" He gestured to the figure seated behind the desk.

Now there are about one million things I would rather do than go any closer to whatever the hell this 'Carol', was, but like I had said before, what I wanted had nothing to do with reality. Mustering my courage, I stepped forward toward the creature, the rest of the group following close behind, until we arrived in a clump before the desk.

"Into a line now please, into a line, one at a time!" Ironwood tittered as he walked past us and then whirled around with a flourish. The lights came on brilliantly overhead and I barely held back a retch as 'Carol' was finally revealed.

In the chair sat an emasculated woman, her face already heavily decayed, with dead skin flaking off her skull. What truly was horrific however, were her arms...

She had four pairs of them.

The arms were of wildly different shapes, sizes, and even colors, and all were horrifically grafted to her sides, the crude stitches clearly visible amongst the remains of a tattered blouse. Her pale green eyes swiveled up to my face, staring blankly.

"Carol! Six tickets please!" The mad general commanded.

"Name… please." The horrific corpse croaked.

"Qrow Branwen." I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

She blinked slowly at me and a pair of arms shot toward the keyboard, typing rapidly. A couple seconds later, the printer behind her beeped and shot out a small slip of paper. Another lanky arm shot backward and snatched it before handing it to me.

"Here you go… sir." She moaned, "Enjoy… the tour."

I took the piece of paper, "Thank you very much ma'am." I answered, then I stiffly turned around and stepped away from the desk. When I had gotten some distance away, I breathed deeply in and out, the smell of the corpse-thing in the chair still cloying my senses. I reached to my belt, and cursed to find the alcohol flask empty.

I briefly considered drinking from the flask of Mistralian Gold to steady my nerves, but dismissed it almost instantly; though the half-full flask sloshed temptingly as I leaned against a clean part of the wall to wait, as the horrific process repeated for the rest of our party.

Paranormal Specialist 117 and 432 were next and I found out were actually named Onyx Chalcedon and Sable Vogron respectively. They stood stolidly off to the side where they managed to maintain their usual impassive expressions… showoffs.

Winter was next and when she had received her ticket she walked over to stand next to me, "Maidens, I can't believe what he's done to her." She looked back over at the pitiable creature that sat in the chair behind the desk. "He used to joke about Caroline being able to multi-task but..."

Normally I would make some kind of quip about Ironwood joking, but I had to admit, the fact being driven home that this "Carol" used to be a normal person kicked a lot of the smartass right out of me.

Instead I shook my head, "That thing isn't Ironwood, get that thought out of your head. As for Caroline…" I grimaced, "We'll do what we can, I promise."

It felt good to say, but I think we both knew how little that particular promise meant. The fact of the matter was is that we weren't going to be able to help everyone trapped in this nightmare, maybe not even anyone. The best thing we could do was make sure as many of us made it out of here alive and without extra limbs as possible. With that cheery thought in mind I turned back as Kali stepped up to the desk.

The rest of the ticketing process went relatively smoothly, though I held my breath when Jaune walked up to receive his ticket. I let out a sigh of relief as it went through without a hitch, the creature either not detecting or not caring about the anima that ran through him.

When our group was all assembled, Ironwood rubbed his palms together in excitement, "All right then! Now that everyone has their ticket, we can begin the tour."

He twirled his cane and tapped it on the floor twice, "But before we begin, we must go over The Rules, right this way please."

He led us out of the lobby and down a long hallway, "He's leading us to the tram station that will bring us further into the facility." Winter whispered to me as we followed our crazed guide, who hummed madly to himself as he twirled his cane.

"I'd like to say that's good news…" I replied as I kept my eyes peeled for anything creepy and crawly coming to eat my face off.

"It's the best news we've had so far." She answered.

"Well that's downright depressi-"

"Here we are!" Ironwood enthused, opening a set of double doors that led into a large tram station.

And into another fresh nightmare.

The tram itself had been transformed from modern day machinery into a rainbow-colored monstrosity that looked like it was from over a century ago; a ghoulish looking clown face with a smile far too wide dominated its front, leering evilly ahead.

I kept my gaze on that for as long as I could, before finally turning my gaze to the true horror that was just ahead of us.

The tram's board was covered with blood, but instead of being randomly splattered about, it was in the shape of letters, 'Rules of the Carnival: To give you all a _bloody_ good time!" was written in large text at the top, and underneath were ten lines in a finer print.

Completing the horrific visage was a man strung up by steel wires that ran completely through his body, in one oversized hand he held a large bowl, in the other he held a paintbrush that was soaked with blood. His eyes were wild above an iron plate that covered his features from the nose down, on which was painted a crimson smile.

He cocked his head at us as we arrived and a freakishly long third arm came from behind his back and grabbed onto one of the wires that ran through his side to his shoulder. He yanked on it, and to my horror, he began to lower himself down to our level.

"Well, well…" He said, his voice echoing from within the mask, "What do we have here, Mister Ironwood?"

Ironwood gestured to us grandly, "Illustrious and adventurous visitors my dear Slate, here to experience the wonders of our grand carnival. Would you be so kind as to explain to them our rules here?"

Slate gave a wild laugh, and then gave a mighty tug on the wire once more to send him to the top of the board.

"Our first rule here dear guests: is rather simple: 'Hold onto your ticket at all times." I instinctively clutched tighter to the slip of paper. "Your ticket is a sign that you are our illustrious visitors, those found without their ticket." Slate leered down at us, "Will be punished most severely."

"The next rule," Slate yanked on the steel wire and lowered himself down to the second line: Is to always follow the directions of your guide." He nodded to Ironwood, "What he says is for your own safety and to allow you to fully enjoy the wonder and magic of the carnival. Disobeying his direction could lead to serious consequences indeed."

"Third:", Slate lowered himself once more, "The guests may offer no violence, except at the guide's direction or in cases of self-defence.

"Fourth: No releasing animals from their cages."

"Fifth: No destroying carnival property."

"Sixth: No stealing carnival property."

"Seventh: No cheating."

"Eight: All contracts are binding, and there are no refunds."

"Ninth: Management reserves the right to alter, ignore, or otherwise curtail any of these rules."

"Tenth: And most important of all…" Slate lowered himself down to our level, "have a wonderful time at the carnival."

He cackled madly as he lifted himself up once more to the top of the board, where he brought his teeth to his wrist and tore away at the skin there. I watched in revulsion as he hovered the wrist over the bowl, blood pouring from the open wound. Finally he nodded, as though satisfied and then giggled madly as he dipped the paintbrush back into the bowl and then began obsessively repainting over the giant 'R', causing it to glisten wetly with fresh blood.

"Well you heard him!" I turned to see Ironwood standing to the side of a large ramp that had lowered from the hideous clown-train. "All aboard!"

There were about a hundred thousand things I would rather have done rather than walk up that ramp. I hesitated and gave a small start as Winter shoved past me with barely a glance. I watched with begrudging admiration as she passed by Ironwood, who bowed low as she walked into the bowels of the vehicle.

I looked to my side to find Jaune still staring at Slate, his eyes wide with horror, I sighed and clapped him on the back. He spasmed and let out a small squeak, his eyes shot to me and I gave him a macabre grin.

"C'mon kid." I commanded him, trying to keep my voice light. "No use putting it off." Jaune nodded stiffly and walked forward with the rest of the group, I paused and my gaze wandered to see what Jaune had been staring at; then immediately wished I hadn't.

From where I was now standing I could see behind the board itself, draped there like horrific ornaments were what I initially thought were more corpses. Then my eyes widened as I saw several of them twitching. With mounting horror I saw red tubes trailing from the squirming bodies and into the steel cable that looped around the board and into Slate's body.

Well… all of that blood had to come from somewhere…

I turned from that and back to the train, then I let out another sigh, I knew in my gut that I hadn't seen anything yet; there were almost definitely far more terrible things ahead.

But like I had told Jaune, there was no point in putting it off… so I put my apprehension to the back of my mind, and stepped onto the train to Nightmare Land.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter**

* * *

When we boarded the train I nearly gagged with horror and revulsion; never had I seen such awful travesties to basic human decency. My very mind was rent asunder by the sights that were before my eyes, so dreadful was the visage that it beheld.

It was by far the most horrific thing I had ever seen, I squeezed my eyes shut; as if by removing it from my vision I could erase it from my memory.

I mean really… yellow curtains with golden tablecloth?

Heh. Gotcha.

In all seriousness it was my first pleasant surprise of the day, there wasn't any blood, no horrific corpses or mutilated monstrosities. Instead we were treated to a pleasantly lit hallway that led into a large compartment that was filled with a series of small tables seated on either side of the train. At each of those tables were two cushioned chairs sitting across from each other. Ironwood stopped in the center of the compartment and pulled out a small silver bell out from underneath his cloak, which he rang to get our attention.

"Please take your seats my dear guests; the Montecarlo Express will be departing shortly." He put the bell away, turned around smartly, and then swept his way through the door at the far end of the compartment, closing it gently behind him.

I could practically feel everyone's gaze on me, I shrugged, and then picked a chair at random and sat down.

Presumably after seeing nothing emerge to horribly mutilate me, everyone else sat down as well; Winter settled down in the chair across from me.

As soon as everyone had sat down, the train began to move and soon the tunnel walls were flashing past us as we went deeper into the earth.

"So, something occurred to me." Winter said.

"What's that?" I asked her.

"When Ironwood went over the… 'attractions', he mentioned something about the 'Sunshine Twins', and that if we're lucky then we'll be accosted by them while we're on this train."

I grimaced, "So you're thinking we need to be on our guard for some new horror to come along and try to kill us?"

She nodded, "Assuming that the facility hasn't been… altered, this ride will last about twenty minutes, that's a long time for an ambush."

I sighed, "Listen up everyone." I raised my voice so that everyone could hear, "We need to be on the lookout for these Sunshine Twins that Ironwood was talking about. So don't get too comfort-"

Right at that moment, the doors at either end of the compartment swung open and instantly everyone had some kind of weapon pointed at either of the open entryways.

Out of the darkness of the entryways emerged the most awful, most horrendous-

Okay, okay, it was just some automated carts that trundled into the compartment; they did have grasping robotic arms but that's like pee-wee stuff compared to all of the other stuff I've seen.

Each of the carts stopped by one of the tables, "What can I get you today?" A metallic, yet somehow absurdly gentlemanly voice emanated from the cart, while the robotic arms opened and closed expectantly.

"Uh…" I sheathed my sword, "Screw it, got any whiskey?"

About a minute later we were all enjoying a variety of drinks, the robot also served us a variety of petite sandwiches which we all ignored and tried not to wonder what was in them.

"Can I get you anything else?" The robotic cart asked.

"No thanks, I think we're good." I responded.

The cart actually manage to tilt itself in a small bow; "Very well, I shall return momentarily."

The cart began to scoot away as I turned back to Winter, "So about how much longer until we arrive… assuming the facility hasn't changed in any way of course."

Winter looked at her scroll, "About four minutes."

"So I guess there was nothing to worry about." Jaune remarked.

As soon as the kid said that, the automated cart that had been trundling out of the compartment flew threw the air and crashed into the wall.

I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to use my sword on more, the things that were coming through the doorway, or Jaune.

* * *

I quickly stepped out of my chair and spun around to see a man and a woman, both dressed in cowboy outfits, right down to the ten-gallon hats.

"Howdy ya'll!" The woman stepped forward.

"How ya'll doin'?" The man thundered as he stepped up beside her.

"I'm afraid…"

"We'll be…

"Needing your tickets."

The big soldier, Onyx, shouldered his rifle and was about to pull the trigger when I stepped over and put my hand on his shoulder. "Hold up, remember the rules?"

Winter grimaced, "He's right, we can't be the first ones to strike."

The two of them frowned as one, "So I'm assuming that you won't cooperate?" The man asked.

"Afraid not." I answered, "Rules are we have to hold on to these tickets."

"Too bad," The woman pouted.

"I feel like…"

"We could've…"

"Gotten along."

Then the two of them disappeared.

I don't mean like they moved so fast they vanished from sight, I mean they were standing there one moment, the next they were gone.

"Huh," I lowered my sword slightly from its guard position, "Well that was interesting-"

That was when a lasso came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around my neck.

* * *

For those of you that are curious, getting yanked out the window of a moving train with a rope around your neck absolutely _sucks_.

I know right? Go figure.

Fortunately as I was being dragged out the window, I managed to activate my Semblance with a quick effort of will; transforming myself into a bird.

I quickly twirled, careful to ride the momentum rather than break my wings trying to force it. I alighted on top of the train and latched on with my talons, then shifted my form back to a human once more, my sword at the ready…

Only to find absolutely nothing there.

I stared in confusion for a moment when suddenly I heard something shift and I threw myself to the side, narrowly avoiding another lasso from draping itself around my neck.

I growled as I slashed at it, cutting the rope in two, there was a sharp howl and the rope snapped back into an otherwise empty space about head height, where it disappeared into nothingness.

Suddenly there was the screech of metal and a hole opened up in the roof of the train in front of me; Winter leapt out of it, landing neatly to stand on the top of the train as well.

"Qrow! These look like some of the camo suits that we were developing here!"

I had kind of begun to figure it was something like that, but it was nice to have it confirmed. "Weaknesses?" I asked her.

"Not much other than track where the ropes are coming from." She replied.

I grinned savagely, "Swell." I said, and then charged toward where the rope had disappeared just a second before, the charge missed, but I heard movement as something dodged out of the way.

"Screw this." I growled and I shifted my sword into its gun-form, lowered it, and yanked on the trigger, sending rounds down the train.

Nothing.

I whirled around, transforming my gun into a sword, slicing behind me.

Nothing.

I stood there for a moment, confused, "What the hell?" I began to murmur when I jerked my head to the side, barely avoiding another lasso. I turned just in time to see it disappear on the side of the train.

"Figures." I muttered, swapped back to the gun, and pulled the trigger.

This time there was a yell of pain and for the first time I got a good look at our assailants as the bullets briefly shorted out the suit. I recognized the man's face from the train, the ridiculous hat still firmly on his head. Only, his lower body was bizarrely contorted as he squatted on the side of the train like a frog. An impression he only solidified as he gathered himself and jumped high into the air before the suit kicked back in, making him disappear from sight once more.

"No you don't you little bastard." I muttered as I switched back to the sword, judging the trajectory, I rushed forward, and with a cry, slashed my sword toward seemingly empty space.

Only to have another lasso shoot out of mid-air and wrap itself around my hands, preventing my cut from reaching its target.

I looked over my shoulder to see the rope pulling taut toward an empty space several paces behind me.

"Ice Queen!" I yelled.

Winter's rapier was already in motion as she stabbed the blade right below the rope, sickly green and red blood erupted from the air.

"Cherilee! Nooo!" I felt something hit my chest like a hammer and I was sent flying backwards. When I landed something came with me, pinning me to the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that!" The man's voice screeched from on top of me, I gagged as the smell of rotting flesh washed over me.

Suddenly there was a flash of white and a massive blade passed over my head, cleaving through the air above me, which erupted in a fount of more red and green blood.

Above me the empty space resolved into the face of the man from the train, his mouth was impossibly wide, with razor sharp spines running down the inside of his gaping maw and well down his throat.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he toppled off me and went down over the side of the train. I gasped as I stood up, then grabbed my cape and began wiping down wherever the blood had touched me.

"Qrow…" I heard Winter call weakly behind me, I turned to see Winter had fallen to her knees, her face splattered with the blood from the two creatures. Her eyes were glazed over slightly, "I don't feel so good…" She moaned.

I dashed over to her and began wiping up the blood with the cape. Fun fact, blood of any eldritch monstrosity should be treated as dangerous until proven otherwise. Which is why it was good to invest in a few enchantments; like one from a couple of Berehynia who had a problem with some snakemen a couple years back.

The ones attached to my cape both make it so that it wouldn't fall apart anymore, which trust me, happens to things you've worn since you were five; and made it so that it had some minor antidotal properties. It didn't do anything against magic, but it made it so that I didn't have to worry about biting the dust from poisonous frog-people blood.

When I was finished I patted her on the shoulder, "Feeling better?" I asked her.

Winter nodded slightly as she got back unsteadily to her feet, "A bit, thanks." Then she promptly fell back to her knees.

"Whoah, slow down Ice Queen." I untied the cape from around my neck and wrapped it around hers, "There, keep that on for a bit and it should help, you got a lot of that stuff on you."

"Really this isn't necessary-"

"Ah! Ah,ah, ah! Who's the supernatural expert here? I need you operating at 100%, and that means not falling flat on your ass because you're too sick to stand. Here, let me help you up."

I wrapped her arm around my shoulder and helped her up, "There we go, now c'mon. Easy." I began walking us back toward the hole she had carved through the roof.

"Thanks Qrow." Winter murmured as we trudged our way along the top of the train. She glanced around at the blood splattered around us. "We make a good team."

I raised an eyebrow; I didn't know if that was the poison talking, but she seemed lucid and sincere enough when she said it.

Finally, I shrugged slightly, "Yeah, guess so."

* * *

Just as we had lowered ourselves back down into the main compartment, the door to the front of the train slammed open and Ironwood appeared.

"Illustrious guests! We shall be arriving at the-" He cut off and his face shifted into confused despair as he looked around at the destruction, "Just what happened here?" He demanded, "It's against the Rules to destroy Carnival property!

I winced, "Yeah, about that… the Sunshine Twins showed up and uh… accosted us."

Ironwood's face brightened, "Oh really?"

"Yeah… cowboy outfits? Throwing around lassos?"

Ironwood frowned and I got a suspicious feeling in my gut.

"Those weren't the Sunshine Twins were they?" I asked him.

"I'm afraid not-" He began when suddenly there was the train bucked, sending us all staggering, save for our host, who clapped his hands in delight. "That, would be the Sunshine Twins."

* * *

A massive claw pierced the metal overhead and with a screech, peeled back the ceiling off the train, a massive, ghoulishly happy sun mask lowered itself down to loom above us.

"Oh well look, it's destroying carnival property, that means we're good to kill it!" I yelled, before anyone could protest my desperate lawyering I chanted some words in the old tongue, summoning the blue flames of Sarongar around my blade. Then I leapt into the air and struck.

The mask rent in two and there was a screech as the massive creature recoiled sending the train bucking as its limbs caught in the vehicle. There was an answering screech and a _second_ creature loomed over us, without warning, black tentacles shot from its form and began streaking towards us.

I stepped forward and began desperately slashing, but inevitably some got past my guard, I heard gunfire and Winter yell out as they too joined the fray. I watched in despair, however as Winter's rapier slammed into a tentacle and simply stopped, unable to pierce its hide.

She grimaced and tried to leap away when another one shot forward and wrapped itself around her, lifting her into the air.

"Winter!" I yelled and tried to charge forward, only to be blocked as a massive limb smashed down in front of me. A sun mask with a large cut torn through it lowered itself down to my level and the creature opened its mouth to reveal a maw full of black, decaying teeth and a long, razor thin tongue.

The tongue shot forward and I leapt to the side as it slashed through several of the chairs behind me as though they were tissue paper.

"Out of my way ugly!" I shouted and slashed at its face once more, opening up another cut deep into its mask.

It screeched and recoiled back once more, I rolled beneath it and came up on the other side and my heart fell at what I saw.

Everyone else had been captured… lifted high into the air by the creature's tentacles, save for one blonde figure whose entire outline glowed golden as he slashed at the creature… Jaune.

Even as I watched, a tentacle erupted from the wall behind him and smashed into him, slamming him into the ground. I roared as I rushed forward and brought my blade down on the limb, severing it cleanly. The creature screamed in pain and I quickly reached down to pick the kid up, "Jaune c'mon, we-" Then my hand touched him and my head exploded…

I saw Jaune and Pyrrha, they were running out of Beacon, the sky was black overhead as a massive Grimm flew through the sky. Pyrrha turned to Jaune, they exchanged some words, Jaune seemed particularly agitated, then abruptly Pyrrha grabbed him and kissed him.

For a single, precious moment they stayed that way, wrapped in each other's arms, then they parted and Pyrrha abruptly shoved him into one of the school's weapons lockers. She typed something into a scroll and the locker shot into the sky. From there the images fragmented, Pyrrha on top of Beacon, fighting against a black-haired woman whose eyes glowed an unnatural gold. Then suddenly the woman stood before her, a bow in her hands, they spoke and then there was a single shot.

The scene froze for a single awful moment, then Pyrrha began fading away, disintegrating to ashes.

There was a scream and I turned to see Ruby, _no… Jaune?_ The two flashed in and out, going from silver to gold... back to silver... gold, silver, gol- suddenly there was a mighty explosion and everything went to black.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks to MasterofBones and TehGramarPolise for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

ERROR: SIGNAL LOST _: Please Repeat Transcription._

…

 _Buzz Buzz Dear Sweetling, The Brother Calls Dear Sweetling_

 _Buzz Buzz To Speak Is To Know, To Know Is To Believe._

…

 _Buzz Buzz RIng ArOuNd The RoSie_

ERROR NON SEQUITUR

 _Buzz Buzz AsHEs Dear Sweetling_

 _Buzz Buzz So Does The End Come, Not In A Flash, But In Mournful Sorrow_

 _Buzz Buzz No More The World Remains_

 _Buzz Buzz Wake Up Dear Sweetling_

 _It Is Time To Believe_

* * *

One moment I was dead to the world, the next I was awake, standing in a long hallway with doorways on either side. Dead ahead of me was an opening that shone with light, I turned to gaze behind me to find only a sheer drop that lead into an abyss that appeared to have no end.

I grimaced as I faced back toward the light, eyeing it suspiciously. After a long moment I finally let out a sigh and began walking towards it.

As I did so, I glanced at the solid wooden doors that I passed on either side; each one had a different symbol scorched into the stone beside it, all glowed with a bright red light. I paused beside a particularly bizarre looking one that made my brain ache just looking at it. It it looked like a question mark whose dot had two other lines branching from it.

I shook my head as I turned to continue on and then froze as I saw that a door further along to my left was wide open, a soft, shifting light poured into the hall from its open doorway.

I carefully creeped along the wall, stealthily unsheathing my blade as I did so. I was almost to the doorframe when a voice came out of the doorway.

"Ah, Mr. Branwen, please, do come in." It was a prim, friendly voice, but I had fought enough monstrosities to know how that song and dance went.

Carefully, I rounded the corner and peered into the room.

It was pretty large, with large rugs covering the wooden floor; a man sat in a high-backed chair next to a small fireplace.

He was a slight man in a dark suit, a black top hat was on his head and he smiled as I walked into the room.

"Please, take a seat, I won't bite." He gestured at a chair similar to his that sat across from him.

I eyed the chair and then turned my gaze back to him, "No offense, but I think I'll pass."

His smile wavered slightly, "Please, I insist. By fire and hearth, by spring and water, I swear to do no harm, for thou is on my hearth. Now sit, we have much to discuss."

Despite the vow, I still felt uneasy as I walked up to the chair to sit down.

That feeling is what saved my life.

I felt more than saw the limb that shot out of the ceiling; I leapt backwards, narrowly evading the attack as it crashed through the floor, sending splinters flying.

The room wavered for a moment before my eyes, and then the illusion broke and my jaw dropped at what it revealed.

I was standing a few footsteps away from the edge of a large, stone cliff. Beyond the cliff was a creature that towered above me; it had hundreds of eyes on a flat face with a mass of tentacles draping beneath it. It had ten spindly limbs that stretched far into the abyss, with four more at its sides.

Each of those were each wrapped around an arm or a leg of the man from the room, but even as I watched, he too began to morph and shift.

For one thing, he was much larger, almost double the size of a normal human, the next is that his clothes faded into rags, the top hat disappeared and his face…

His eyes glowed red, full of fury and hate. He writhed and struggled at the limbs holding him and I gasped as the head of a Beowolf erupted from his shoulders and bit at the limb that held the arm.

For a moment, it looked like he would be able to get free, but at the last moment the limbs of the creature branched out into tendrils that all rapidly around wound themselves around the man; restraining him completely.

The man struggled fruitlessly for a few seconds more, then sighed as he went limp.

"Damn," The man said ruefully, "I had been half-hoping that I could use that opportunity to get free."

I warily eyed the massive creature as I got back to my feet.

"Don't worry," The man called, "My friend here won't make the same risk twice by attacking you again."

I scowled as I looked up at him, "Forgive me if I don't exactly trust someone who broke a vow of peace."

He laughed, "I never broke it, Hecatonchires here did that." He jerked his head at the massive being, who I noted was keeping at least a hundred of its eyeballs on me while the rest were fixated on its captive.

"So," I turned my gaze away from the creature and back toward the man that it held, "Just who are you?"

He lifted an eyebrow, "What? The Grimm erupting from my body didn't make that obvious?"

"You're the Brother of Darkness." I guessed.

He grinned, "Bingo."

I sighed as I sheathed my blade, "Well then, nice chat, but I'll be going now." I turned to leave.

"Halt!" A deep rumbling voice thundered behind me and I felt something try to enter my mind, only to have it slip past me, finding no purchase.

I looked over my shoulder and held up the bone necklace the Baba Yaga had given me, "Not gonna work. I know enough fairy tales to know how listening to the big scary guy that wants to destroy all life goes." I faced back toward the doorway and began moving towards it."See ya." I called nonchalantly.

"Wait! Please!" He yelled desperately, and despite myself I paused a few footsteps away from the doorway.

"We're on the same side." He pleaded, "I called you here because I have information that you need if you're going to beat them."

I turned back, one eyebrow raised skeptically, "The Brother of Darkness, Creator of Grimm, The Destroyer, The Twilight of Man-"

"I always did really like that one." The Brother of Darkness admitted.

I scowled, "And you're claiming you're on _my_ side?"

He grimaced, "Look, you know the story about how things went sideways right?"

I frowned, "Tlaloc said something about a god of light and a god of darkness." I shrugged, "I guess that makes sense that he meant you two."

The Brother nodded, "Right, my dear brother threw a hissy fit and made a deal with some super powerful beings. Bringing things like this…" He jerked his head at the creature holding him prisoner, "Into Remnant."

My eyes widened slightly, "Huh." I scratched my chin as I considered the implications of what he was telling me. "So you're telling me that your brother called these things on you and has had you imprisoned ever since then?"

He nodded, "Pretty much, although to be fair, I think they turned on him as soon as I was locked up."

"So who exactly is 'they'? Who did your brother make this deal with?" I asked him.

He shook his head, "You want to go insane? All that your mortal mind can comprehend is that they're some really bad dudes… or dude, depending on how you interpret it."

"And you benefit from me beating these things… how?"

He rolled his eyes, "I mean, being released from eternal imprisonment not good enough reason for you?"

"Fair." I conceded, "So what's this all important information that you needed to give me?"

The Brother of Darkness grinned, "Sometimes when the cat is coming little birdie, the only way out is to fly."

I blinked, "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

He cocked his head to the side, "We speak in metaphors child, because alien minds cannot decipher them. Now," I gasped as the light rapidly faded around me, until the brother's red eyes were only source of light, "Begone... be a dear and make sure the child makes the right choice in the end, won't you?"

I tried to ask him what he meant by that, but before I could the twin red pinpoints snuffed out; leaving me alone once more.

* * *

My eyes snapped open to find Jaune's face hovering over mine, his face screwed up as he took a deep breath and to my horror began descending towards me.

"Oh _hell_ no." I shouted and I shoved him away, "Were you about to do CPR on me?"

The kid's face flushed red, "I-uh- yes."

I scowled at him, "You're really only supposed to do that to people that aren't breathing, you know that right?"

"You had stopped breathing!" He replied, "Just like a few seconds ago you twitched a bunch and then just went completely still; you had been unconscious ever since the train-"

I sat up abruptly, "Train, where the hell is the train?" We were both sitting in the middle of the tunnel the train had been taking, pieces of metal were strewn about the smooth stone floor, but no train was in sight.

"Uh yeah… about that." Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I think the train might have exploded or something? I don't know, I've walked around a bit and I couldn't find the others."

I stood up and pulled out my scroll, "Shit," I murmured, the device was completely busted, and didn't respond as I attempted to turn it on. "Hey kid, give me your scroll."

Jaune patted down his pockets and grimaced, "I uh… don't have it with me…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he held up his hands defensively, "I left it back at the Festival, we were about to have someone take our picture when those Grimm showed up and…"

I waved off his explanation, "Forget it, from how these places usually work, trying to communicate with technology can get wonky anyway."

I put my damaged scroll away and thought for a moment, "Okay then, here's what we're going to do." I began walking along the tracks, "We'll walk down the tracks and hope that we either find the others along the way, or that we can meet up with them at the end of the tracks."

"Uhm, are you sure that's the way we were going?" Jaune asked nervously.

I froze mid-step and looked around at the walls, the kid had a point, there weren't any signs or anything pointing us in the right direction.

"Shit." I breathed, "Let's take a look around then," I told him, "We'll see if we can't find any clues as to-"

"Ah! There you are." I whirled around at the sudden noise, weapon raised.

General Ironwood stood there, his extravagant outfit completely unblemished from the fight aboard the train.

"Goodness me, aren't you jumpy." He commented, "That would be wise, I'm afraid you made our remaining Sunshine Twin very unhappy."

"Oh great, one of those things are still alive?" Jaune complained.

Ironwood nodded with a wide smile on his face, "Yes, indeed and as I said, it is most unhappy with you. You should proceed along the tracks quickly if you wish to arrive at the Fun-House safely." He clapped his hands excitedly, "Oh this shall be most fun, a game of cat and mouse." He pouted, "It is a shame that I cannot watch in person; I'm afraid I must attend to the other guests."

"The others are still alive?" I asked him, hope stirring within me.

"And kicking!" Ironwood answered, "They are making their way through the Fun-House now, do not worry though, we shall wait for you at the entrance to the Fairgrounds!"

Ironwood turned and to my astonishment, began walking _into_ the wall, his arms and legs fusing with it seamlessly until he was nothing but a two-dimensional shape on the stone surface.

"Tah, tah!" Ironwood called and with that he began zipping along the wall until he was out of sight.

* * *

"So, I wanted to ask you something."

I sighed heavily, we were walking along the tracks, senses constantly on alert for any sign that the Twin was around.

Jaune must have taken that as acquiescence because he pointed at my sword, "So how do you light your sword on fire? Is that your Semblance?"

I shook my head, "Wouldn't work on those things if it was." I answered, "I did a favor for the Elemental Lord of Fire a while back, in return he lends me his power."

"So wait… why wouldn't Semblances work?" Jaune asked.

I shrugged, "No clue," I lied, "Against some creatures Semblances seem to work just fine, but then against others they just aren't effective."

The truth was that I suspected that the Brother of Darkness and presumably the Brother of Light being imprisoned or otherwise incapacitated would explain at least part of that phenomena.

Jaune frowned, "Okay then, so what exactly is 'anima'?"

I sighed, "This 'something' has turned into a lot of other somethings hasn't it?" I asked rhetorically.

The kid's face reddened and I shook my head, "Look, anima is… complicated…" I frowned, "Or rather there's the simple bit and then there's a lot of complicated bits. The simple explanation of anima is that it comes from Gaia-"

"So who's Gaia?" Jaune interrupted, then he grimaced as I raised an eyebrow, "Sorry."

"You've just stumbled onto one of the complicated bits, Gaia _appears_ to be an extremely powerful entity that doesn't like the monster things that keep popping up." I shrugged, "What she wants or what she seeks to gain by giving us the power of anima is anyone's guess. All that I've needed to know is that anima directly opposes monsters, who use something called mana that some of the cultists are able to channel for rituals and spells."

"So like what Kali can do?"

I nodded, "Yeah, although I get the feeling she can channel more than most because she's half monster."

Jaune stopped and I could hear his nervous swallowing, "What?" He asked weakly.

I rolled my eyes as I kept walking, "Yeah, she's half Rokurokubi."

"Gesundheit."

I stopped and turned to glare at him suspiciously, but the kid just stared back at me blankly.

"Anyway…" I continued, "That's most of what you need to know, anima good, mana generally bad, you can use anima a lot easier than most people because you were chosen to do so."

He nodded and we kept walking, "So what favor did you do for the Elemental Lord of Fire?"

I grinned, "I fixed a leak." I replied.

Jaune frowned, "You fixed a leak?"

"I fixed a leak." I confirmed

Jaune looked up at me helplessly, "That doesn't really answer my question."

"How so?"

"Well so, why did the Elemental Lord of Fire need a human to fix a leak?"

"Because he had been swallowed by a fish at the time." I tried not to laugh as Jaune's face twisted in confusion, "It was a big leak." I explained.

"If you don't want to tell me the story you can just say so." Jaune told me.

"Yeah, but that's nowhere near as fun-" Suddenly the hairs prickled on the back of my neck and I froze. "We're being watched." I told him.

Jaune's eyes widened and he readied his sword and shield, stepping over so that we stood back to back as we searched the darkness.

A sound began to echo around the tunnel, barely audible at first, but slowly it grew in volume until it was nearly deafening, a rapid clicking sound like a beetle's.

"What is that?" Jaune asked nervously.

"I think it might be a mental attack," I answered him, "Aka-raba make a sound like this and it makes people hallucinate."

"So I guess we have the necklaces to thank for it not working?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it should be figuring that out pretty soon, keep on your toes."

I heard Jaune slow his breathing until it was coming out even, "Should we try going on the offensive?"

I noted that there was an edge of steel in his voice that hadn't been present before, "No go, we'd be walking in blind." I answered.

"I can do something to fix that." Jaune replied, and then there was a blaze of golden light that evaporated the darkness.

There on the wall slightly to my right was the familiar shape of one of the Sunshine twins, it roared as the light fell across it and I gagged.

The mask had completely fallen away, completely unveiling its features for the first time. Above the familiar mouth of rotting teeth were two massive multi-faceted eyes that glittered with the reflected light, above those were two more mouths that both yawned open to reveal two long tongues that dripped a tarry, black liquid.

Even as I watched, the two tongues rose high above the creature, and then shot forward with deadly speed. I shouted a warning to Jaune even as I rolled out of the way.

The kid turned and raised his shield, which flared golden as the two foul appendages slammed into it, and then recoiled as a sizzling sound filled the air. The creature shrieked and the two tongues withdrew back into the mouths, which snapped shut.

It seemed to consider the two of us for a moment, and then without warning it crouched low and leapt forward, landing on top of the tracks.

For a moment it sat there, unmoving, "The tracks!" Jaune shouted.

I looked down and my eyes widened. The tracks under the creature were being sucked up like massive noodles, and even as I watched, the tracks on either side began moving, yanked from the stone and into the monster.

Whatever it was doing, I wasn't going to just let it continue, I raised my sword and ignited the flames. I leapt on top of the tracks and ran along them, with a massive roar I swung my blade, biting deep into its flesh.

The beast screamed and lifted a massive arm, bringing it slamming down, I leapt back and in the same motion, swung my blade across the train tracks. There was a screech of metal on metal and the tracks parted around my blade. The last of the track was sucked up into the monster who turned toward me, the other half of the track sticking out of it like some kind of obscene tail.

I pointed at the tracks, "Cut it off!" I yelled.

Jaune did one better and ran straight up to the creature and with a battle-cry slashed around the other track, cutting it free from the creature's flesh.

The beast let out another scream and leapt up, attaching itself to the ceiling. I watched in disbelief as it bunched up on itself, morphing into a large ball. Then to my horror, it began to split, forming into two smaller balls of tarry, black flesh that continued to change. Eight gangly limbs shot out from each of the balls, attaching themselves to the ceiling. Then their heads emerged, great massive tube like structures, with the same multi-faceted eyes from before. Finally, great spikes emerged from their backs, glinting menacingly in the light.

As one, the two creatures opened their mouths, each revealing a mass of tentacles, all covered with some kind of metallic substance. They roared and the limbs shot down at us. I rolled to the side and sliced at one… only to have my sword embed itself halfway through.

I cursed and yanked out the blade just before the tentacles retracted, hovering above us once more.

"We have to get at their main bodies!" Jaune yelled.

The kid was right, these things must have used the metal from the tracks to reinforce their tentacles with that metallic substance, but their bodies looked just as fleshy and vulnerable as ever.

I thought about it for a moment, then grinned, "You're not afraid of heights are you?" I shouted at Jaune as I ran up to him.

The kid looked at me, apprehension on his face, "This is going to be a lot like Ozpin's landing strategies, isn't it?"

I stopped next to him, "Don't worry, I'll catch you… ready?"

Jaune took a deep breath, "Go for it."

I grabbed him by the collar and began running towards the wall, carrying him along behind me. The creatures roared in unison and threw their armored limbs forward in a rain of death.

I felt more than saw the familiar golden light wash over me as Jaune began channeling anima, not just into his weapons, but into his armor as well. I twisted just in time to avoid one tentacle and then jumped onto it, with a mighty leap, I threw myself at the wall.

I turned in mid-air, narrowly avoiding more of the lethal appendages and with a shout, kicked off of the stone surface, flying towards the closest monster.

"Here. We. Go!" I spun around and then let go of the Huntsman, sending him flying towards the monster.

Jaune for his part was now entirely covered with golden light, nearly blinding me with its brilliance. I barely could make out his form as he extended his blade and punched right through the monster's side, barreling through like it was tissue paper.

The monster screamed and began twisting, I landed back on the ground and watched in astonishment as its flesh began solidifying, turning into a brittle rock, with flakes of it dropping to the ground.

Suddenly it shattered into pieces as a golden form leapt from it to cannon into the other creature's side. It too screamed as the figure pierced its side. For my part, I watched in fascination as it suffered a similar fate to its twin, its body solidifying until it was frozen into a petrified statue.

I was aware of a sharp cracking sound and the middle-section of the creature gave way as Jaune fell through, the golden light from before fading as he plummeted to the ground.

I dashed over and managed to catch him just before he hit the stone floor, he looked up at me with surprise as I held him in my arms.

"Woah, for a second there, I thought you weren't gonna- Ooof!" That last part was as I dropped him flat on his ass.

"I told you I was gonna catch you, didn't I? Now c'mon, let's keep going before more monsters show up."

I began walking along the now ruined tracks and then paused, "Oh, and by the way kid, good job."


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

I lifted my hand to signal at a passing barmaid, "Another!" I growled in a drunken slur.

She raised her eyebrow at the collection of glasses and bottles in front of me. Anywhere else, I probably would have been cut off; but this was in the slums of Mistral, if I died from alcohol poisoning then the bartender would probably distribute my belongings as a posthumous tip. She gave a slight huff, then went to go grab me another drink.

I belched as I stared at my reflection from an empty bottle . I looked like I had lost a fight with an extremely angry fish, my hair was still sopping wet with slime and cuts covered every inch of my face.

Angry fish… yeah, that was one way of putting it. A big, angry fish that had grabbed villagers one by one and had sucked their innards out through that proboscis that had been green, slimy and at one point had been coming right for my-

The barmaid came around and placed a drink in front of me which I downed, desperately trying to erase the image from my mind. The glass was drained before she had even reached her hand back.

"Another!" I demanded, the barmaid spun around and walked back to the bar, where the man behind the counter had already set out another glass full of alcohol in anticipation. She had just grabbed it when the door opened and a large figure ducked under the low frame to step into the tavern.

He was a large man with long, silvery-blonde hair. He wore plate armor that I'm pretty sure weighed hundreds of pounds, but you couldn't tell from the ease and grace with which he moved. On his back were an enormous tower shield and a long spear that ended with a vicious chain-saw at its tip.

The stranger turned his head from side to side, obviously searching for someone, finally his eyes settled on me and he began walking in my direction.

The other patrons all stared at him as he passed, "Oy, isn't that a bloody knight from the Order of the Equinox?" A man with an eyepatch asked his neighbor, who did his best to focus on the armored figure through his drunken haze.

"By the seven hells it is." He breathed in response.

I simply watched as the man walked up to my table and then gestured to the seat across from me, "Do you mind if I sit?" He inquired politely.

I rolled my eyes, "Who am I to stop a knight of the mighty order?"

He nodded politely despite my belligerent tone and sat down, letting out a groan of relief. "You have not been an easy man to find, Qrow Branwen." He told me.

My head lolled to the side as I considered him and then I grunted, "One would think I made it difficult to find me for a reason." The barmaid placed another four full glasses in front of me and I grabbed at one eagerly. Then frowned as I missed, I squinted and then began to grab at each one in turn until my hand touched something solid. When I began to bring it back to my mouth however, the knight grabbed my arm, holding it in place.

"Indeed." He agreed mildly.

I glared at him and tried to yank the arm out of his grip, only to find it implacable.

"So why then has a knight of the order of the Brothers wasted so much time and effort finding me?" I asked him.

"My name is Captain Geralt, and I am here to stop someone from killing you." He replied simply.

I frowned at that, "Oh? Is this an intervention where I ask, 'someone?', and then you say, 'yourself'?"

Captain Geralt smiled slightly, "No, then I would correct it to 'somethings', specifically a couple of monsters from the Cult of Undine."

I groaned as I slumped back in my chair, "Great, just perfect… and you know about these monsters; how?"

"I've been hunting them for several days when I heard that the avatar they had summoned had been felled." He nodded at me, "They're not very happy about that."

"You were hunting them? How did you-"

"I was at Mountain Glenn." He said somberly.

"Ah," I pursed my lips, "Sucks to be you then, that wasn't exactly under your usual job description."

He shook his head, "Not so, I am a Knight-Captain of the Order of the Equinox; I see it as my sacred duty to defeat creatures such as what emerged from the portal; as of late they're causing more death and devastation than even the Grimm."

I poked his chest with my free hand, "See, why aren't more knights like you? I could use the help, an entire order of knights would really useful."

He leaned forward and glanced from side to side as if afraid of being overheard, "Something has been hunting those that survived Mountain Glenn." He whispered, "Those of us that remained decided to exile ourselves from the order and search for you."

I raised an eyebrow as I stared at him, "Damn… so you're here to help me then."

"I am." He replied patiently, "Now if you wouldn't mind, I would really prefer it if you set down that drink."

I frowned, "Why's that?"

"Because the curse that creature set on it will be causing it to erupt into a Gibberer any second now."

Right on cue, tentacles shot out of the glass, grasping for my face. I let out a start as I let go of the glass and the knight proceeded to lift a gauntleted fist and pound the thing into the table. Green blood flew everywhere and the other patrons in the bar began screaming, save for the bartender and the barmaid who began to shift and change.

Both of them sprouted a single fin on their back that jutted out like a shark's, their eyes became shallow and lidless. Their lips began expanding and puckering, their mouths filled with sharp, serrated teeth.

"Guardian!" The former bartender wheezed as he smashed through the bar, sending pieces of wood flying everywhere. "Tonight you shall die! The Great One of the Deep Palace shall have Her vengeance!"

Captain Geralt and I looked at one another, the armored man shrugged his shoulders in a way that somehow managed to scream 'I told you so'. I flipped him off in reply and then we got to work.

* * *

When it was over, the patrons had all run screaming out into the night and the creatures were dead. Fish guts and green blood were splattered everywhere and I let out a sigh as I wiped off my blade on the dead barmaid' outfit.

I looked back up to the knight, who was currently picking bits of monster flesh out of his chain-saw spear thing. I nodded to him, "Thanks for the assist."

Captain Geralt shrugged, "No one should fight the darkness alone." He walked up to me and offered a gauntleted hand, "What do you say? Room for a knight in your quest, Guardian?"

I grinned as I took the hand and shook it, "I could use all the help I can get."

After all, I had thought at the time, this was a knight of the freakin' Equinox, I had seen them fight at Mountain Glenn, and if anyone was going to be able to help me in this line of work and survive; it was going to be a fighter like him.

Seven years later he was dead.

So much for not fighting the darkness alone.

* * *

"So, what about werewolves?" Jaune asked.

I shook my head, "Not real, although there are furry creatures called Skinwalkers that can transform into people."

"So, like doppelgangers."

I laughed, "Completely different level from those things. Doppelgangers are like 'destroy a village' bad. A single Skinwalker could potentially end an entire city."

We had been going back and forth on this for a while. Jaune asking me about various creatures that he had heard about from folklore or from modern media and me elaborating. The kid either read a lot or really liked horror movies because he had been asking them one after another at a rapid-fire pace.

I kind of sensed that he was trying to work up his courage to ask me about something that was on his mind; so I wasn't surprised when he bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Qrow, at the end of the fight with the Twins, I saw something." I frowned as I waited for him to elaborate, "I saw Beacon, there was this massive Grimm and Pyrrha… she."

I blinked as I realized that he was describing the vision I had seen, "And she died, right?" Jaune winced and I silently berated myself, "Yeah… uh… right… so I tend to get visions, not necessarily of the future but of… possibilities. I think that somehow we shared one of them."

"Have any of them ever come true?" Jaune asked.

I grimaced, "Uh… maybe."

Jaune gave me a confused look, "Maybe?"

I coughed, "Until recently I kind of got stupidly drunk a lot to avoid them." I admitted. Jaune gave me a look of crushing disappointment, "What?" I demanded

He shook his head, "So what I saw in that vision won't come to pass?" He asked me.

I shrugged, "I honestly can't guarantee either way." I told him.

Then we both stopped as we stared directly ahead.

We had finally reached at the end of the tracks; sitting there was the ruined wreckage of the train. At the end of the tunnel was an ordinary looking wooden door and a small sign that stood next to it that read simply, "The Funhouse."

"I think I was expecting something more…ominous." Jaune said as I started towards the door.

I shook my head and then stopped just in front of the door while I waited for the inevitable.

Sure enough the door creaked open, a mist flowed out of the open entryway, partially obscuring the total darkness that lay behind it. A crazed laugh barely at the edge of hearing rang out from that black abyss before fading into silence.

"Okay," Jaune breathed, "I'm sorry I said anything."

I grinned as I continued walking forward, "That's the spirit, now c'mon."

"You aren't worried about," Jaune gestured helplessly, "Any of that?"

I raised an eyebrow as I glanced back at him over my shoulder, "I mean, it's either we go in there or we just wait out there; it's not getting any less spooky in there."

Jaune made a slight whimpering sound and followed me inside, we stopped just a few steps past the door; and I grinned slightly as I heard the door begin to creak as it closed behind us.

Predictably, Jaune whirled around and desperately tried to reach the door in time but failed; the door clicked as it shut, leaving us in utter darkness.

"So what…" Jaune squeaked, then swallowed nervously, "What do we do now?"

I shrugged, "We wait for the lights to come on."

I could practically feel Jaune's bewildered gaze on me, "And you think that's just going to happen?"

Right as the kid asked that, lights on either side of the room came to life, revealing our surroundings. We were in a large room, three wide hallways twisted and winded off into the distance; with traditional gas lights lining the walls.

I turned to Jaune and winked, "See? Now, what do we have here?" The last part was in reference to a small signpost that stood in the center of the room. I walked up to it and bent down as I read the lines of text that were neatly written there.

"Welcome to the Fun-House," I read aloud, "We hope that you enjoy your journey through its wondrous halls. Along your travels, you shall meet some denizens that you will be dying to meet, but are rather shy. Likewise, the Wallmaster sails across the wooden ocean and once he comes, your time on this world is short."

"Um… so are those warnings?" Jaune asked me.

I nodded, "Pretty much, hold on, there's more. 'Heed the signs, they lead you true so long as you have the right view'." I frowned and shook my head, "Great, riddles." I stood up and looked between the three hallways.

"The sign said the 'right' view," Jaune said as he began walking forward, "So that means we should take the hallway on the right-"

I lunged forward and yanked him by the back of the collar; the novice Hunstman let out a yip of terror as a bladed pendulum passed not a hairsbreadth away from his face.

"Kid, just be patient, alright?" I let go of him and Jaune fell to the ground where he stared in shock as the entire hallway to our right filled with blades of all kinds swinging wildly.

I ignored him as I walked around behind the sign, "Ah, yeah, see?" I twisted it around to show Jaune, "This arrow was pointing at the left hallway." I said, pointing at a large red arrow that was on the back of the sign.

I turned the sign back around to its original position, then frowned as I saw a tiny line of text beneath the arrow, "It might behoove you to close the doors, they scratch, but they cannot break." There was a strangled sound and I looked up to see Jaune, eyes wide with horror as he stared at something behind me.

I whirled around and suddenly extremely pointy, pearly white teeth filled my vision; I gagged as I leapt backward, my blade practically materializing in my hands as I fell into a fighting stance.

The creature had four bowed limbs that were dug into the wall on which it crouched like a large lizard. Its face was that of a human's in shape, however, save for its far too wide mouth that was split open in a needle-toothed grin, it didn't possess any other features; just a flat plane of pale skin.

I frowned as I composed myself and saw that it wasn't moving, not like it was merely staying still, but rather like it was frozen solid; like a photograph.

I cautiously stepped forward and shrugged as I spoke the words in the old tongue to surround my blade with flame. The sword wreathed itself with blue flame, and I carefully watched for any reaction from the creature… nothing

"Well, I'm not too proud for a cheap shot." I muttered and raised my blade, still watching for any sign of movement from the creature I swung it in a vicious arc towards the thing's neck.

The blade swung through the air with a vicious hiss and as it met the creature's flesh simply stopped. There was no recoil, no feeling of an unstoppable force, the blade just simply met its neck and couldn't be moved any further.

I pulled back my blade and struck again, this time aiming for its belly; only to encounter the same result, it was like physics had just simply quit out on the job.

I stepped back and rested my blade point-first on the ground as I considered the creature, "Hey Jaune?" I called over my shoulder.

"Ye-Yeah?"

I beckoned him forward, "Go ahead and try using your sword infused with anima, see if you have any more luck."

Jaune stepped up beside me and golden light filled the room as he channeled the energy into his sword. He lifted the blade high and brought it crashing down on the creature's head…

Then gave a yelp as the sword went right through, and he stumbled almost face first into the thing.

I threw back my head and began to laugh when I suddenly heard a scream; wide-eyed I dropped my gaze to find Jaune's head entangled in two limbs that had shot out from the creature's chest. I quickly grabbed at Jaune and flung him behind me, where he fell on his ass with a grunt.

I expected the creature to try and follow the kid, but it just sat there, frozen as if nothing had happened.

An idea started going through my mind, "Okay, Jaune, get up and stand back as far as you can to the other end of the room."

I heard his feet shuffle as he did so, and I moved to join him, being careful never to take my eyes off of the frozen creature in front of us.

When I felt the wall bump into my back I spoke, "Alright, so when I tell you to, I want you to blink… just for a moment, then open them, okay?"

I heard Jaune swallow nervously and I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye, "Okay, on three… one, two, blink."

I shut my eyes and instantly snapped them open and beside me Jaune let out a small scream.

The creature had moved from the wall and was now on the ground, its maw was open wide, and a forked tongue was extended towards us; once more completely frozen.

"What the hell is that thing?" Jaune asked.

"It's a Crawler." I told him.

"You've seen things like this before?" Jaune asked me.

"Nope, first time." I replied.

"Then how do you know what it's called?"

I shrugged, "I don't, but that's what I'm calling it from now on." I replied.

"Seriously? You couldn't come up with anything more creative?" Jaune asked me.

I scowled, "Hey, you try coming up with a creative name for every single thing that goes bump in the night." I considered the frozen Crawler and then nodded. "Okay, so here's the deal, it appears that this thing can only move while we're not looking at it; so this is what we're going to do. I'll go first down the hallway, you keep an eye on this thing, and if you _ever_ lose sight of it, then you tell me immediately, got it?"

"What do we do when I blink?" Jaune asked.

I grinned, "Keep that to a minimum." I told him.

"That doesn't really answer my question…" He complained.

"Totally does," I responded, "It means that I'm winging it and this is the best I've got; it's not like we can alternate because if there's more than one of those things then we'll be blind up ahead if I look back. So unless you have a better idea...".

Jaune eyed the Crawler, then took a deep breath, "Alright then, let's go."

* * *

And so we made our way down the hallway, occasionally Jaune let out a small squeal or scream as the Crawler snap-shotted its way after us. Finally we reached another room and I frowned as I saw a lever next the entryway.

"Go ahead and get inside the room." I told Jaune, "But for all that is holy, please don't let that thing in here."

Once Jaune got inside I yanked on the lever, praying that it did what I thought it did.

As soon as I did, a slab of dark metal slammed downward, blocking off the entryway. Not a second after it had done so, there was a frenzied scratching on the door. Jaune and I stared at the door with baited breath as the Crawler clawed at the barrier.

Finally, there was a sharp hiss of frustration and then… silence.

I turned around and quickly examined the room; it was mostly empty, with another slab of dark metal blocking further passage, and next to that was what appeared to be a small tollbooth.

As I watched, the door to the booth opened and a man in a pinstriped suit emerged.

He was ludicrously short, only coming up to my knees, his face was covered with clown make-up, and a bronze wind-up key turned on his back as he walked towards us.

He stopped a couple of steps away and smiled broadly as he looked up at us, "Hello and welcome! I am Kurt S. Anthemum, and before you go any further, you must pay me a toll!"

I frowned, "Uh…" I began to pull out my wallet, but the man shook his head.

"Now hold on just a minute! You don't even know what the toll is yet!" He admonished me.

I paused, "So what's the toll?" I asked him.

The tiny man clapped his hands, "That is what _you_ must find out!" His eyes twinkled slightly as he looked up at us, "I will however, give you a hint, should you guess right, then I'll let you pass. However, if you guess wrong…"

Jaune and I whirled around as the scratching began at the door behind us once more, " _He_ gets in and the lights go out." Kurt finished smugly.

"Alright," I breathed, "Neat, so what's our hint?"

"If you have me, you will want to share me. If you share me, you will no longer have me. What am I?"

I frowned as I pondered the question, then my eyes widened as Jaune almost immediately stepped forward and whispered something in the man's ear.

At that moment I had a distinct flashback to the hallway where a pendulum nearly sliced his face off and was about to countermand him when a feeling in my gut stopped me and instead I waited, trying to stop any sign of nervousness from showing.

Whatever the kid said must have please the strange little wind-up man, because Kurt's eyes lit up and he nodded before walking over to the tollbooth. The small man pressed something inside of it, and with a groan, the metal slab rose to reveal another hallway.

"Huh." I gave Jaune a look of newfound respect, "I didn't even see you give him anything, what was the answer?" I asked him

He shrugged, "It's a secret." He responded.

I raised an eyebrow, "Damn, I must be rubbing off on you."

He shook his head, "No, I mean that I literally just told him a secret."

I blinked, "Oh, well then… good job."

The kid flushed slightly at the praise and we began walking down the hallway.

"Just remember!" Kurt called after us, "In the next room: Follow the Signs!" And with that, the door slammed shut behind us.

We walked down the hall, both of us keeping our eyes peeled for the return of our Crawler friend, when finally my curiosity got the better of me.

"So what'd you tell him?" I asked Jaune.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the kid tense up, "Nothing!" He blurted out and I grinned.

"Pretty sure that's a different riddle." I teased him.

"Well it's just uh-" Suddenly he pointed, "Look! There's the next room."

I rolled my eyes slightly and nodded, "Yeah, wonder why he emphasized for us to follow the signs, seems a little redun-" Then the word caught in my throat as we entered the room and stared.

"Um…" Jaune gulped nervously, "So which ones should we follow?"

Because there were signs _everywhere_ , from the walls, from the ceiling, and all were covered with text and had different arrows, all pointing to four different black, metal doors.

Suddenly Jaune gave a gasp beside me and my heart sank as I turned around. The walls in the hallway behind us had begun undulating; as though the wood had become a churning ocean.

There was a low moan that began small, but then resounded again and again until it was nearly deafening. My eyes widened as skeletal arms began emerging from the walls and as I watched they started flowing towards us in an endless wave of grasping bone.

I looked towards the side of the entrance and my heart leapt as I saw a lever similar to the one from before. I lunged forward and pulled on it; and just like before, a black metal slab slammed down just in time.

There was the sound of a massive collision as whatever those things were slammed into the metal, but it held.

I let out a sigh of relief, but then froze as an hourglass emerged from the wall next to the and I watched in trepidation as the hourglass flipped, and sand began streaming down into the bottom.

"Well shit." I breathed, "This is gonna be fun."


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

Chronophobia… I don't usually do long words, but there's one for you.

As you can tell, it's a phobia; an irrational fear, specifically of the future or of the passing of time.

First part: Check, I've seen so many different terrible events and horrific monsters that may show up sooner or later that I constantly drink myself into a stupor.

Second part: I've encountered so many timepieces hourglasses, digital countdowns, and even bell tower clock 'stroke of midnight' junk all counting down to some impending doom that I've pretty much been scarred for life. So double check.

It was depressing, I thought in the back of my mind, but being trapped in a psycho Funhouse with an hourglass counting down presumably until the door would open to let whatever the hell that thing was into the room to rip us limb from limb was just another addition to a long list of such encounters.

Then my eyebrows raised as something distinctly unique occurred, as one by one the signs began to all erase the text and images on them and shifted into a singular word.

"Hello." They all read.

"Uh…" I waved, 'Hi."

They all became blank once more and then they began to shift once more, "Would you like to play a game?"

"Okay, that's like… never a good thing." Jaune murmured.

While I heartily agreed with the kid's sentiment, I also didn't see much of a choice, "What kind of game?" I asked.

"We shall ask you questions and you will answer them; if you get them right, you may leave this place and we shall show you the right door. If you get them mostly right, then I may or may not show you the right door, but you may leave." The signs seemed to pause for a moment, "However, if you get too many wrong, then he will enter."

Almost as if to punctuate this statement, the door began to rumble as whatever was on the side attempted to shove it aside.

"Not much of a choice I guess." I muttered. Jaune gave me a begging look and I shrugged, "Sorry kid, but it's either this or hope that cookies and ice cream appear when that hourglass runs out rather than that thing getting in."

"There is another choice," Jaune said, "We could try to cut our way out." His blade began to glow at this statement and I saw a glimpse of something, like a faded photograph in its light. It was a figure in the shape of a tall man with a face as though someone had taken a blowtorch to half of it. The man opened his mouth to reveal a wide, gaping pit and he screamed, Jaune and I clapped our hands to our ears as the piercing sound rose to an unbearable pitch, sending pain coursing through my head. Jaune's concentration broke and the light went out from his blade; as soon as it did, the figure disappeared and the sound with it.

I shook my head and blinked rapidly, wincing as my hands came away sticky with blood, "So let's not do that again." I said blearily.

Jaune nodded slightly in response and we turned to the signs once more, "Alright, we'll play." I told them.

"Excellent," They replied, and then a single sign slid forward and the signs around us began shifting, until they had arrayed themselves along the wall.

"First, you must answer this to know with what you must write to answer the rest of the questions." The one on the left read.

I rolled my eyes, "Ah c'mon," I groused and I began to pull out my sword, "The answer to these things are almost always 'blood'." I told Jaune. Then waited as we stared at the blank signs in front of us.

"Well c'mon." I told them, "We haven't got all day."

"The first is a sign of something good." I jerked my head to the left as something brushed past my ear; leaving the ghostly whisper in its wake.

"The second says whereto." Another voice gently soothed into my right ear. I growled and shook my head to clear it, but the ghostly whispers came unrelentingly.

"The third is vulgar and mean."

"The fourth is bound by a ring."

"The fifth is the noble one."

"Together they all drum." The voices all echoed as one and suddenly everything was silent.

"So uh…" Jaune gave me a shaky grin, "I don't think the answer is blood."

I glared at him for a moment, then sighed, "Got any bright ideas then?" I asked him.

Jaune thought about it for a moment, then nodded, "Actually I do." Then he walked up to the sign in front of us and my eyes widened as he traced a finger over the sign. As he did so, a black, oozing ink was left in its wake.

"'Fingers'." He murmured aloud and then stepped back to examine his handiwork. A moment later the ink dissapeared and a low hum echoed throughout the room before fading away.

"Next question:" The signs all shifted to read.

For a moment there was nothing, then shivers went up my spine as the voices began whispering once more.

"Mary's father has five daughters…" The first voice began.

"Nana..." The second voice breathed.

"Nene…" The third voice droned.

"Nini…" The fourth voice trilled.

"And Nono." The fifth voice finished.

"What is the fifth daughter's name?" The first voice asked.

Almost instantly Jaune bent over and wrote simply, "'Mary'." Onto the sign. A moment later the ink disappeared the the room hummed once more.

"Next question…"

The next five minutes or so went by in the fairly similar fashion, the voices would ask a question, and Jaune would answer it, the room would hum, and they would ask another one.

"Okay seriously, no offense, but I always had you pegged as a doofus." I told Jaune as he sketched the answer to some riddle about having six sticks make nine; causing the room to hum once more. "How the hell are you so good at these things?"

He grinned ruefully at me, "When you have seven siblings, your parents will come up with anything to make you all shut up on a long car ride." He answered.

My eyes widened slightly, "Damn… seven siblings?"

"Specifically seven sisters."

I looked upon him with a smidge of newfound respect. "I thought I had it bad enough with just one."

"Yang's mom?" Jaune asked as he answered another riddle.

"Yeah."

"Ruby showed me the picture; it's eerie how much they both look like their mothers." Jaune commented. "With Yang it's mostly the eyes, but especially Ruby looks like a miniature version of her mom."

"You know, I think one time I actually saw an alternative future where Ruby dyed her hair blonde like her father's."

Jaune made a face, "Now that's an image." He shuddered slightly, "Not that I think it'd necessarily look bad on her… for some reason though that mental image is just really weird to me. So you didn't just see awful nightmares in those visions?"

I thought about that for a moment, "You know, I think at first they weren't actually that bad, not very frequent either, I'd just get random flashes or images."

"So what changed?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Can't remember." I answered.

Jaune snorted and turned around to face me, "Cut that out," He demanded, "I've been through this hell and from what you've been telling me, it's not even the worst of it." He glared at me defiantly, "If you saw a future that even you couldn't handle without drinking to drown it out; then you need to tell me."

I held up my hands, "Whoa kid… easy there." I grinned ruefully, "For once, I'm not just being a smart ass." I rubbed the back of my neck as I considered my words.

"Whatever I saw, it literally broke me," I tapped my temple with a finger, "I snapped, lost it, went completely bonkers." I shook my head, "It was the first deal I ever made with the Baba Yaga…" I winced slightly, "Or rather, it was one that one of the people in my squad, a knight by the name of Geralt, made on my behalf. I wasn't in any condition to be making deals myself."

"So what? She made you forget?" Jaune asked.

I shrugged, "Kind of," I grabbed the necklace of the sideways cross I wear around my neck and showed it to him, "Apparently the vision I had seen was too important to wipe away, so instead she stored it in this necklace; saying that I would see it again when I most needed it."

"Considering your line of work, I'm surprised you've managed to hang onto it." Jaune murmured.

"Kind of part of the enchantment… I've thought I lost it a couple of times in the past, but it's always come right back around my neck."

"Huh." Jaune fiddled with the bone necklace around his neck, "You think she put something like that on these?"

I shook my head, "Unlikely, that kind of enchantment is pretty personal, it would have kind of defeated the purpose if we couldn't spread them around as needed."

"Right." Jaune replied, then he shook his head, "Welp, I better get back to playing the creepy sign's game; oh and Qrow?"

"Hmm?"

"When I first met you I was kind of disappointed." He admitted, "I mean, Ruby always looks up to you, practically worships you and, well… no offense, but I kind of had you pegged as a Grade-A asshole."

I chuckled, "I mean, we all have our flaws."

He grinned slightly at that, "Well, I just want you to know, I'm kind of beginning to see why she's like that about you."

He turned back to the sign and began writing yet another answer; though I couldn't make it out because something had just gotten in my eye and I rubbing at it to clear it..

I swear.

* * *

After several more minutes of Jaune's riddle-solving, the sign's hum took on a distinctly different pitch and then began to shift once more, "This is the last question." The signs read, I heard Jaune swallow nervously beside me and I quickly glanced at the hourglass to see that we only had a small layer of sand left.

"How many grains of sand are left in the hourglass?" The voices all echoed at once.

I stood there for a moment, then for an insane moment I tried to actually count the amount of grains before realizing that it was obviously impossible.

"Qrow." Jaune whispered beside me, "There's only one way to be certain of the answer…"

My heart sank as I realized what he was getting at, "We have to write the answer when the grains of sand run out." I whispered.

We both stared as the grains of sand continued to slip inexorably into the bottom of the hourglass.

"Alright." I said, making up my mind, "You get ready to write the answer, as soon as the signs tell us which door, you run. I'll try to hold that thing back."

I unsheathed my sword and shifted it into its scythe form and began to channel the flames of Sarongar into the blade. Blue flames spread along its length, thankfully not eliciting the same reaction as Jaune's own sword had done and I dropped into a combat stance.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched the hourglass empty into the bottom, preparing myself for that last grain to fall.

Waiting for that door to open up to admit something from my worst nightmares reminded me of a pastime some of the more reckless members of my tribe had enjoyed taking part in. It involved capturing a male Bullorn, a very big breed of cattle that were large and strong enough to knock Ursas on their ass. Then getting it good and mad by poking at it with an electrical prod; the next part involved an idiot who would stand in the enclosure until the beast was released. At that point, said moron booked it to try and get out of the enclosure before being stomped on by a couple thousand pounds of pure pissed off muscle.

Have I mentioned I was really good at that tradition?

So as the very last grain of sand fell, and the door shut open, sending a tumble of limbs made of wood streaking towards me; I threw my scythe, sending it spinning towards the creature before diving forward in a roll. The room trembled as a roar of pain and raged echoed through the very walls and floor themselves; at least fifty different grasping arms reached towards me; intent on exacting vengeance. However, just before they could grab me, I concentrated and pulled my limbs inward. The next moment I was looking through the eyes of a bird as I shot through the gap, emerging on the other side.

As soon as I was clear I went back into human form, skidding along the floor, I reached up and caught the handle of the scythe as it spun past the creature, leaving a glowing blue gash in the monster's side. I transformed the scythe into its shotgun form and unloaded shell after shell into the creature. It turtled in on itself, its many limbs reabsorbing into itself until it was practically a sphere. As soon as the shotgun clacked empty, a storm of wooden arms exploded towards me...

Only to find empty air as I threw my blade into the air and transformed into a bird once more; shooting up into the air after my weapon. Once I reached the apex of my arc, I transformed back into a human and saw Jaune waving from the right hand hallway.

"Run!" I yelled at him, and to his credit the junior Huntsman didn't need to be told a second time and whirled around to pelt out the door and out of sight.

I hit the ground running, but I hadn't gone more than a couple paces before an iron grip latched itself onto my leg.

"Not today asshole," I growled and swept my scythe through the limb, leaving just the useless hand clutching tightly. I looked back up to the doorway to continue running when I stumbled as something weighed down on my leg. I looked down and my eyes widened as I saw that the hand holding onto my leg had glued its wrist to the floor, pinning me in place. I grit my teeth and carefully sliced the hand so that it was released completely from my leg; then on instinct I tossed my weapon back into the air and transformed into a bird, flapping hard after it.

A moment later there was a horrific slamming noise as the creature brought two halves of wood crushing down on where I had been a moment before. I reverted back, grabbed my scythe and swung it into the ceiling, where I hung for a moment to survey the situation.

My heart sank as I saw that the creature had flowed right in between me and the doorway that Jaune had run down. It had hunkered down and appeared to be absorbing mass from the walls and floor around it; even pulling in a couple of hapless signs as it did so.

"Oh hell." I cursed, it knew where I needed to go, and it seemed now its plan was just to block that and then to simply gain enough mass to attack me from the entryway.

Which really left only one option, or rather… two options, "Eenie," I breathed, "Meenie… moe!" I yanked my scythe out of the ceiling and shot through the middle hallway, the creature roaring as it made a futile attempt to shift its mass to chase after me.

I say futile, not necessarily because it was slow, but because as soon as I got through the entryway the door behind me slammed shut and the floor whipped out from under me, sending me tumbling into the darkness below.


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

As I fell down into the seemingly bottomless pit, I was able to reflect on a couple of things. For one, the trap door had closed tightly almost as soon as it had opened, shutting me in. I had attempted to stop my fall with my scythe, only to have it bounce off the wall fruitlessly, even with the flames of Sarongar swirling around its blade. Which meant that switching into my bird form and cutting my way back out really wasn't an option.

Two, it was obvious that wherever I was going was probably _not_ the right way, which left only two other options for Jaune, although I had a hunch that he had probably gone in the intended direction.

Three, I was falling down rather quickly, and here's the thing about tumbling down a chute, pipe, trap door, whatever: there's always spikes at the bottom. It may seem a little cliche, but it's practically a rule; even if at the bottom there are only some half-heartedly place wooden stakes, there will be some kind of pointy object waiting to greet you.

With that in mind, I waited until I saw a hint of light rapidly approaching, along with the outlines of some very sharp stone spires, and then concentrated to send myself into my bird form.

Nothing.

I blinked in confusion and with barely a centimeter left to go, managed to swing my scythe to wrap around one of the large formations of pointed stone to throw myself off to the side.

I landed with a grunt and then stood up, staring at my hands, then attempted to bring forth my Semblance once more.

Nothing. It wasn't even like I couldn't concentrate, or that I was somehow being blocked: rather; it felt like I had just reached into the very essence of my being and just found it… empty. I winced and gingerly reached down to my side where one of the spikes had nicked me, and I grimaced as it came away bloody.

"Well, first order of business then," I muttered and swiftly ripped a strip out of my shirt, which I wrapped around my waist in a crude bandage.

Truth be told, I was rattled, I had experiences in the past where my Aura had run out, or been drained by some foul monstrosity. But I had never had this feeling of emptiness that I did now.

What really had me spooked wasn't even necessarily the gaping void I felt, it was the fact that I hadn't even noticed that it was missing until I had reached for it. Something that had been with me since I could walk was now gone, without warning, and without explanation. It was like standing naked in a briar patch.

"Hello." A voice suddenly echoed.

I whirled around, my scythe at the ready; as chills ran down my spine.

I knew that voice, a prickling at the edge of a memory.

It was the voice of death, of despair, of a thousand different paths where Remnant met its end; that voice was a constant in all of them.

"Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello." The word repeated over and over, the voice strangely filled with static, like it was coming over a malfunctioning television set. I heard something slither… _ooze_ in the darkness. I whispered the incantation to bring Sarongar's flames to my blade, and breathed a sigh of relief when it worked.

Then choked with horror and revulsion at what it revealed as the room brightened from the fire.

Standing several meters from my feet was a lake, for lack of a better term. It was an oozing pit of a black, tarry substance that stretched for at least fifty meters, disappearing into the darkness behind.

"I am the pirate signal. Let me in." The voice cooed. The lake roiled and churned as _things_ began to emerge from beneath the surface, walking forward on bowed and twisted limbs. I watched in horrified fascination as the first of them walked out onto the stone floor, it was in the shape of a human, but its flesh was all made of the same substance as the lake itself. With a scream it threw itself at me, I stepped forward and swung my scythe, slicing it in half like a knife through butter.

Some of the substance splattered on the stone at my feet and with a shock, I realized that I recognized it; "It's the same stuff from those Sunshine Twins." I muttered aloud.

"I am the ear worm," The voice continued to rant as hundreds of more of the things rose from the lake, "I am the word virus. Let me in. I am the Dreamer's dream, let me in."

I stepped back from the lake and desperately looked around. "Oh damn." I swore; I was surrounded, the stone floor beneath my feet and the spikes behind me an island in the middle of a black ocean. Even as I watched, larger and more twisted creations began to rise from the muck in the distance; all making their way towards me.

As I cut two more of the human shaped creatures into pieces, I wracked my brain for ideas.

I was trapped on an island, surrounded by a seemingly sentient black tar that was sending what seemed to be an endless swarm of creatures to attack me. My Semblance wasn't functioning and any hit I took would not be blunted by Aura; overall the situation looked pretty dire.

That's about when it started getting even worse.

Without warning, the stone beneath me trembled slightly and I whirled around, "Oh damn," I breathed.

It looked like someone had taken a Beowolf and had decided to slap six more legs onto it, give it a couple more eyes, double its size, and then slapped a tail with four whip-like tendrils for good measure.

It opened its maw, let out a bubbling roar, and then leapt toward me.

I whirled to the side, lashing out with my scythe in the same movement, leaving a deep cut in its side. Then instantly I leapt backward as the monster's tails flew right past my face; giving me a up-close view of the lines of the wicked, barbed hooks that ran along their lengths.

It turned and immediately lunged forward, its jaws open wide; but I was ready for it, and all it got for its trouble was a mouthful of Dust rounds as I opened fire with the shotgun mode. It recoiled sharply and let out a howl of fury.

"Yeah, eat it you-" I began as I reloaded, then the entire creature's body _shifted_ and the whip-like tendrils erupted all over its body. For a moment they twisted in the air wildly; then they all shot toward me.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as I switched to the scythe form of my weapon, invoking the flames of Sarongar along its blade. I then began to spin the weapon in a fiery pin-wheel, slicing and burning the tendrils as they came.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the tendrils stopped and the moment I did I rushed forward and with a roar, cleaved the creature in two.

The light fled from its eyes and with a burbling whine it sank to the ground and began dissolving into the tar, flowing back towards the lake.

I then watched, wide-eyed as the tar from the creature flowed, swirling in the lake and then began rising; a few seconds later, I was looking at the Beowolf thing once more and it let out a low growl as it began advancing back toward the shore.

I looked around to see a similar scene playing out from the remains of the human-form creatures I had slain; the substance just simply melted back into the lake, and the creature reformed anew.

"Well this puts a new emphasis on the word 'futile'." I muttered.

That's when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of gold and I turned my gaze to see some of the black tar slide away to reveal a flat, golden circle on the ground, twisting branches visible upon its surface.

A Conduit.

I switched my weapon into its shotgun form and went to town, clearing a wide swath of the approaching monsters before holstering the weapon and yanking out the flask of Mistralian Gold from my belt and chugging down half of the remaining amount; careful to ration it despite my haste.

The anima coursed through me, as I capped the flask and thrust it back into my belt. I concentrated, sending the golden energy flowing into my hand. Suddenly there was a screech of rage filled with static and the creatures all stopped in their tracks and began to writhe in agony.

I didn't stop to watch as in desperation I dashed to the circle and went down to my knees, knocking a closed fist on the floor. To my relief there was a pull, but there was something odd… then with a shock, I realized that it wasn't just that small circle that was a Conduit… it was the entire floor.

I began to consider the ramifications of what I was about to do, but was interrupted as the creatures began to charge forward once more.

"Here it goes." I muttered and opened the way to Agartha.

* * *

There was an instant of vertigo as I fell sideways out of the portal, mud clung to my hands and legs as hit the ground and I reached for my Semblance. I felt the familiar feeling of Aura wash over me, and I took flight as a bird, letting out a harsh cry of joy. Moments later, a wave of mud flowed over where I had just been, and a low moan echoed through the air.

Several of the mud golems that had appeared when we had tried to reach Agartha from Mountain Glenn emerged from the muck, their empty eyes lifting to follow me as I flew overhead.

That's when black tendrils whipped out of the portal, knocking the golems off of the branch and into the endless abyss below.

" **LET ME IN!** " The strange, static voice from before shouted. An alien triumph suffusing his cry, which seemed to rebound and echo, until all of Agartha trembled.

The black tendrils continued to flow along the branch, and as I watched, the mud solidified and turned a dark, sickly green. This time, I felt it as the Aura left me, it felt like a hand of ice reached into my very soul and _pulled_ taking my innards with it. The chill spread from my core to the rest of my body, and I had a brief flash of vertigo as my Semblance wavered, turning me back into my human form, plummeting into the void below.

In desperation, I quickly summoned Sarongar's flames around my scythe and swung it into a passing branch, sinking it deep into the wood. I hung there as I watched in horrified fascination as the tendrils continued to flow, followed by more of that black substance which began to pour out like a river. I gagged as a smell like rotting flesh hit me, and the humanoid monsters from before began to emerge from the portal, screaming and gibbering as they began to run along the branches.

I threw myself up onto the branch above me and turned to watch as an entire line of the mud golems rose up to meet the swarm of creatures. The golems rose high into the air, forming massive fists that they brought crashing down on the monsters, crushing them into pulps.

However, even as I watched, the black, tarry substance that comprised the creatures began to spread into the golems; solidifying them and turning them the same sickly green hue as the rest of the mud tainted by the foul black tar. The monsters continued to run forward, pounding their fists on the defenders; sending cracks through their bodies.

"Well, well." A calm voice remarked beside me, "This is quite the mess."

I whirled to see Ozpin calmly standing there, watching the scene unfold, his hands resting on the top of his cane.

"Oz? What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.

He shrugged, "I've been investigating Agartha; seeing if I couldn't find out why it has been acting so strangely."

Only Ozpin would have described mud golems attempting to murder anyone that opened a way to Agartha as simply 'acting strangely'.

"From what I've gathered, it sounds like Ironwood sent something in that whatever controls Agartha didn't like," I informed him.

The headmaster pursed his lips, "That fits with what I've seen." He admitted, "Anything to report since Mountain Glenn?"

I shrugged, "Met up with Winter, she asked for my help with something going down at a base in Atlas where Ironwood messed with something he shouldn't have." I looked back down at the spreading taint, "I uh… just got sidetracked from there."

"I see." Ozpin turned to look further down to the root of the branch and I followed his gaze to see the black substance pouring out of a portal, surging towards us in a wave.

I readied my scythe but Ozpin raised his hand and stepped forward, he lifted his cane and the gears within turned as he brought it down sharply on the wood at his feet.

A wave of green energy flew forth and collided with the substance, there was a shriek and the substance receded back into the portal. My jaw dropped as I looked around to see that all around, the black substance was recoiling and receding until it was merely a few tendrils extending out from the original portal.

I let out a slow whistle, "That's a hell of a trick." I remarked.

He shrugged, "It won't hold it back for long, but I will remain here to keep it check."

"That's nice to hear, but just what the hell is that stuff?"

"A malaise of madness that transcends words… and worlds." Ozpin replied simply.

I let out out a sigh as I sheathed my weapon, there I went again, expecting a straight answer.

Ozpin reached into his coat and pulled out a purple, stone amulet in the shape of a scarab; which he handed to me. "Here, take this, it should get you back to Jaune."

I shook my head in wonder, "You're a miracle worker Oz," He smiled slightly and was about to say something when his eyes widened as he looked over my shoulder.

I whirled around just in time to see one of the tendrils that had somehow snaked its way up behind me and lashed out like a whip, slamming into my left arm even as I felt a sharp prick on my finger. The world swirled and shifted around me as a fire flared up from my forearm to my shoulder and I lost consciousness.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

ERROR: SIGNAL LOST: _Lockdown and Secure-_

 _ **Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,**_

 _ **Twelve men on a dead man's chest,**_

 _ **Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,**_

 _ **One Jumps off and bumps his head.**_

 _ **Mommy went to the Doctor and the Doctor said**_

 _ **Knock, Knock**_

 _ **Who's There?**_

 _ **Drink and Devil**_

 _ **Drink and Devil who?**_

 _ **Had done for the rest,**_

 _ **Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of Hydrofluoric Acid for the mind.**_

* * *

I groaned as I regained consciousness and I opened my eyes to find myself laying down looking up into a bright light, a cool metal surface against my back.

I tried to move, only to find that I was chained down.

"Easy there, Chuck." A voice said calmly, "It's alright if I call you, 'Chuck', right?"

I twisted my head from side to side, trying to find who was speaking and the voice tutted at me.

"No sense in trying that."

The surface I was strapped to began readjusting, lifting up my head and back until I was sitting upright in front of a projector screen.

"Let's take a little peek into that noggin of yours."

I gasped as something wet and slimy reached into my mind and _pulled_ , something snapped and the screen lit up, displaying an image of my old team.

"Oh, interesting." There was a sharp _click_ and the image zoomed onto Raven's face, "I know her, the Dreamer's syringe… injecting themselves into reality, the vaccine for sanity."

 _Click_ , this time it zoomed onto Summer's face, "Ohhh… delicious Chuck, loss is such a mortal idea. You fight so hard for order, and when it all falls apart, you get hurt. Trust me on this one Chuck, chaos is a lot less of a height to fall from.

 _Click_ , the picture changed, now it was an image of Ruby smiling up at me, "Awww," The voice cooed, "Isn't she adorable?"

 _Click_ , Yang now stood beside Ruby, her arm around her shoulder, "I've seen them both die… I know you have too. Worms coming out of their eyes, teeth ripping out their throats, their screams a rhapsody of the damned."

I groaned as those images flashed before my eyes, as though prompted by the speaker's words.

"But here's the big idea, Chuck, it doesn't have to be that way." _Click_ , an image of Ozpin appeared on the screen. "Ah, one of the stars in the play to save the world, but he's lost the script. Now he dances out ab-libs and impromptus on top of cryptic hints that he drops to ask for the lines."

"So let's talk." _Click_ , this time, an image of Jaune appeared on the screen. "You've got the best seats in the house, and this young meatbag is about to get his solo. Thing is, he hasn't decided on the instrument yet. That's where you come in, the Dreamers want one, the people who have used you and thrown you into the grinder, want another. Help him decide right, and the Dreamers will give you all you've ever wanted. Want the dear little syringe back? Done. Want little cuties one and two to be unharmed? Done."

I shuddered as I felt something grab onto my shoulders with claw-like hands, "You have systematically lost everyone close to you." The voice stated, "Are you really willing to just let that continue? Are you really so heartless?"

"Just say the words, Chuck," The voice whispered, and I could feel the thing's rotten breath in my ear, "Throw the bone to the dog."

The voice became deeper, and more sinister, " _ **Let. Me. In.**_ "

I gasped as the slimy tendrils in my mind began squeezing, causing spots to flash before my eyes.

"Go. To. Hell." I managed through gritted teeth.

"Oh Chuck," The voice purred, "That's so dreadfully mortal of you. Now just what else is in that soft little brain of yours making you play so hard to get-"

 _Click_

There was a pause, then the grip on my mind abruptly released itself, allowing my vision to recover to see that an image of Winter Schnee had appeared on the screen.

Suddenly the entity screamed, static filled its voice as it wailed again and again. As it did so the image on the screen blurred and went out of focus. I felt chains keeping me tied to the chair loosen, and I threw myself forward with all of my might.

For a moment they held, and then without warning they snapped and I pitched forward toward the stone floor below me…

* * *

I woke up with a gasp, my eyes shooting open to see that I was standing in a long hallway. For a moment, I simply stood there as I tried to get my bearings. Then, from one end of the hall, there was the pounding of feet and I turned, scythe in hand, to face it.

To my surprise, I saw that it was Jaune, his face panicked as he bolted towards me. I grinned as I sheathed my scythe, "Hey, good to see you again-"

"No time. Boulder. Run." He panted as he darted past me. I blinked in confusion and then I felt a rumble and my eyes widened as indeed, a massive stone boulder hit the corner, then ponderously began to roll down in our direction.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." I shouted as I turned and ran after Jaune.

* * *

After a couple more minutes of running from the boulder, we finally saw a doorway in the distance.

The problem was, even as we approached, there was a giant steel door that was slowly lowering to close it.

"We're not gonna make it!" Jaune yelled.

"Like hell we aren't!" I replied, and then grabbed the young Huntsman by the collar, drew him back and let him loose towards the door and he flew threw the doorway. I then called upon my Semblance, transforming into a bird and flapping hard, I raced the lowering steel.

I made it by the skin of my teeth, tucking my wings into a dive to get through the last centimeters of space before it slammed shut. I switched back to human form, rolling on the ground to spring back to my feet.

Barely a second later, there was a titanic crash as the boulder slammed against the steel door, but it held, leaving us both to stand there breathing heavily.

"So," I asked him, "How the hell did you manage to get yourself into that mess?"

"Key to a door I needed to get through on a pedestal." He explained between pants, "Knew it was a trap. Had no choice."

I grimaced, "Been there. It sucks."

"So what about you? I starting to think you were..." He didn't finish the sentence, but then again, he didn't need to.

I made a show of stretching my back, "Got dropped down a chute to a pit of sentient, monster-producing lake of tar. Went into Agartha to escape." I answered.

He frowned, "And didn't get mauled by mud beast things?"

I shrugged, "The tar stuff was keeping them busy, then Ozpin showed up and put them both in time out corners. Then he gave me a stone amulet that was supposed to bring me right to you, it pretty much worked."

"Neat, but I'm not gonna lie, I kind of wish that he was here right now."

I nodded, "Yeah, would be nice." Despite myself though, what that voice had said niggled at my mind. What had it meant by what it had said about Ozpin? Was I wrong to place so much trust in him? Was he really doing his best to play the part of the knowing headmaster that I had known since I was a kid, but in reality completely at a loss for what to do?

I shook myself, that was like supernatural 101. They always try to mess with your head; the trick was not letting them.

Even when they knew exactly what buttons to push.

"Hey," I looked up to see Jaune looking at me, his expression worried, "You okay?"

I waved him off, "Oh yeah, no, fine; just uh… y'know, just thinking about how much this place…"

Jaune sighed, "Don't-"

"Rocks." I finished, giving him a thumbs up.

"Does that even really work?" He asked, "It was technically a boulder."

"Whiiicchhh, is a really big rock."

Jaune shook his head, "You know," He said, "Ruby might have copied your weapon and outfit, but Yang is the one who copied your sense of humor."

"I mean, to be fair, her father was the one who got me hooked on the torturously funny nature of punsmanship."

"So what? I should be thanking him?"

"Oh hell no, just letting you know who the real culprit is."

* * *

We walked for a couple of minutes down the hallway, constantly watching for anything that would signal that another monster was coming for us.

Finally, we rounded a corner and up ahead was another sign in front of a curtained hallway.

"You know, I've really come to dread seeing these things." I muttered.

Upon the sign was a rhyme:

 _There was a Crooked man, who walked a Crooked mile,_

 _He found a Crooked sixpence, upon a Crooked stile,_

 _He bought a Crooked cat, who caught a Crooked mouse,_

 _And they all lived together in a little Crooked house,_

 _But the Crooked man was sad, and once he had a thought..._

 _Why should he be Crooked, when others, they were not?_

"Well that's… slightly ominous." Jaune remarked.

I pulled out my scythe and stepped up to the curtain; I looked at Jaune, who readied his own weapons, then gave a determined nod.

With that, I turned back and flung open the curtain; revealing a long hallway lined with a large variety of full-body mirrors, with a simple wooden door at the far end.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Jaune muttered.

I agreed with that sentiment full heartedly… something felt… wrong, in this room. Like something was watching us.

However, we weren't exactly spoiled for options, so I took a deep breath and began walking down the hallway. Jaune hesitated for the briefest of moments, then reluctantly followed, his gaze flicking back and forth as he watched for danger.

For my part, I frowned as I continued walking past the mirrors; each one seemed to bend and distort my reflection in different ways.

Oh, I don't just mean the usual funhouse mirrors kind of stuff; some of them had me missing an arm… sometimes a leg… sometimes my eyes were black, empty pits in my face. In each and every one I was somehow horribly maimed or mutilated.

Behind me, I heard Jaune gagging slightly as he discovered the same thing. Then suddenly, I stopped and stared at one of the reflections.

It was me of me, but there was something more… something in the way it stood and held itself. This was a man who would've taken that shot with Luna, who would have saved Summer…

It was a man who would never have let his sister become a pawn of some horrible monster in the first place.

Dimly I heard Jaune say something behind me, but I was too entranced; enraptured by this image of what I could be… should be.

Someone grabbed me from behind and began shaking me; they should really go away, couldn't they see it? I was so _close_ if I just reached out, took that hand that was emerging from the mirror, that perfect... perfect hand I could…

I felt myself yanked back and with a snarl I threw the fool that dared to keep me from that mirror; sending him crashing to the ground. I grabbed my scythe and advanced upon him, raising it high.

"Qrow!" He yelled, "Wait, just _look_ at yourself! Maidens, it's-" I didn't listen to the rest as I brought my scythe down on him. He barely lifted his shield up in time to intercept it, the blade scraping against the metal like fingernails on a chalkboard… beautiful that sound, so beautiful…

But even more would be the flesh ripped, torn asunder…

I laughed wildly as I lifted my scythe again, and in desperation, the fool lunged forward, grabbing at my ankles. It was so kind of him to expose his back like that, it would make it all so much simpler-

Fire. Fire spread throughout my very being and I gasped as I came to my senses. I lowered my scythe and stumbled backward. I blinked in surprise at my sudden clumsiness, not all of it derived from the Huntsman clamped to my feet; I felt weird… ungainly.

Then I looked at my arms and despite myself, I screamed.

My arms were twisted as though they had just been pulled from one of the funhouse mirrors; with two knobs jointing them in bizarre ways on my forearms. My knees were bent backwards and my feet were twisted sideways.

However, even as I watched, they were correcting themselves and I moaned in relief as I saw my feet begin to straighten.

A howl of rage echoed throughout the hallway and a pair of hands reached out from one of the mirrors and grabbed at Jaune; with unbelievable strength, it ripped him off of me and began dragging him.

The Huntsman let out a squeak, but he turned and slashed at the hands, eliciting a yelp of rage. He then swung his sword and smashed that mirror, "Smash them all! Hurry!" He yelled.

I tried to step forward to help, but I fell flat on my face as my body began to wrack and twist in upon itself.

I cursed as unimaginable pain swept through my body as my very bones seemed to turn to paste as they changed and reformed.

"Think, damn it, Qrow." I spat through clenched teeth, how was it that Jaune had started to reverse the process-

Anima.

I moved instantly, gritting my teeth against the agony as I forced my twisted hand to grab the flask and rip off the cap, I threw back my head and downed the drink.

The fire burned through me once more, but I could feel it as it pushed away whatever was twisting and shaping my body and began to set it right. Soon I was back to 100%, I looked up to see Jaune fighting a weird, twisted humanoid thing that spat at him as he thrust his sword at it.

"Alright ugly," I whispered, as I flipped to my shotgun and took aim, "Time to-"

 _ **Hiya, Chuck**_

I dropped the gun to the floor and gagged as something foul and putrid swept over me.

 _ **So rude of you to leave our little chat like that. Tsk, tsk. You know what happens to boys with bad manners?**_

I felt something tickle my left arm, and I pulled back the sleeve to see a black spot on my elbow. I watched in disbelief as it began to pulsate violently.

 _ **They get everything they ever wanted. Ain't that the rub?**_

I screamed in pain as black tendrils began to shoot through the skin on my left arm like vines, they began to twist and spread along its length until they covered it completely.

I slumped forward, my head was spinning, and I felt like I had a high-grade fever, roasting alive in my own skin.

I was dimly aware as Jaune chopped his sword at the creature, which jumped into the last mirror. The Huntsman pulled back his blade, and with a shout, shattered it to pieces.

"Hey," I croaked, "That's seven years bad luck you know…"

Jaune instantly turned to me and I saw his eyes go wide, "Qrow… oh no…" He went to his knees, "Qrow! You're gonna be okay… just hold on."

"I should know…" I muttered, "Apparently, I'm a lucky-"

Then I faded into oblivion.


	23. Chapter 23

**Transmitting the Dark Signal:** _ **Downloading the Zero-Point Pathogen… Unveiling the Monochrome Future.**_

* * *

 _ **Hello, Chuck.**_

I didn't so much wake, as suddenly I was conscious of my surroundings, like I had been standing there, staring into the distance and only just now actually focussed enough to see.

Then, as I took it all in, I began to understand why I might have chosen to do just that.

I was standing at the gates to Beacon Academy, except that massive stone structure had been ripped asunder; vines of the same, black tar from before twisted and weaved all along its walls. The sky was dark as night, and as I turned, I saw that a thick fog had descended upon the city of Vale.

Then I began to hear the screams.

 _ **Isn't it beautiful?**_

I numbly took a step toward the Academy, then another, my own legs beyond my control as I clumsily stomped towards Beacon's doors.

 _ **I thought after our little talk that perhaps a more… visual… demonstration was in order.**_

I had reached the double doors, and my hands rose, quivering, to rest upon them.

 _ **Let's go face that music, shall we?**_

I grit my teeth and tried to resist as an alien power forced my arms to shove open those doors. Despite my best efforts, the doors swung inexorably open, creaking as they did so.

"Uncle Qrow?" I blinked as I saw Ruby standing there in the doorway, her eyes wide with fright, "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain," I heard myself say, "We have to go. Now." I offered her my left hand; which she took, clutching onto it tightly.

Without warning, something foul and putrid swept over me and I fell to my knees, "Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked, her voice quivering.

"Kid, you have to-" A torrent of black sludge erupted from between my lips, and I heard Ruby scream. I felt her hand ripped from mine and I tried to stand up, only to fall to my knees as a feeling of vertigo overwhelmed me. I raised my head, but my vision went in and out of focus as bright lights flashed across my eyes.

I blinked a couple of times and shook my head, with an effort of will I managed to fight off the dizziness and get to my feet, I looked around, but Ruby was nowhere to be seen, "Kid? Ruby?" I called.

There was another scream coming from further inside the building, I ran towards the sound without a second thought. The lights had all gone out, so I pulled out my scythe and called the flames of Sarongar to the blade to see in the darkness.

"Ruby?" I yelled, my voice cracking slightly with desperation.

"Uncle Qrow!"

It came from behind a set of doors to my left; I sprinted over and kicked the doors, sending them crashing to the ground.

The small, square room beyond was brightly lit, with iridescent lights reflecting off of the solid white walls. Dominating the room was a rectangle glass aquarium that was rapidly filling with the black substance; with Ruby trapped inside.

She saw me and desperately pounded at the glass with her fists, "Uncle Qrow!" She had time to yell, before the black tar rose up like a wave, swallowing her whole.

"Ruby!" I screamed and I began slashing wildly at the glass, but to no avail. Even my strongest blows only left my arms shaking from exhaustion, and not so much as a scratch.

 _ **Now do you understand? Do you comprehend the Monochrome future that awaits?**_

I whirled around to see a shadowy figure standing in the corner, leaning casually against the wall. His form flickering erratically like the flame from a candle.

"You bastard!" I snarled and began to charge towards him, when a wave of unbelievable pain lanced through me, sending me to my knees, gasping for air.

The figure walked over to me and gently caressed my cheek.

 _ **Oh c'mon, don't be like that, Chuck.**_

I lifted my gaze to glare into the figure's featureless face, hate radiating from my every pore.

 _ **Oh, oh that's beautiful**_

The figure shivered, as though in ecstasy.

 _ **Give me more, Chuck**_

He wrenched my head around, and I saw Ruby emerge from the tar, gasping for air. I tried to shout a warning as a single black tentacle began to rise out of the muck, three bony spines emerging from its tip.

Before the words could even leave my lips, the appendage lashed out and embedded the spines into Ruby's back, and she screamed in agony as they began carving bloody swathes into her flesh.

 _ **Agony, sheer, and beautifully without purpose.**_

The figure walked up and laid a hand gently upon the glass.

 _ **She screams into a void that can hear her, but cares in the same way that the stars can hear a planet be born… or burn to ashes. That it is to say, in no way whatsoever.**_

"I'm going to kill you." I seethed between clenched teeth.

 _ **That's the spirit.**_

I began coughing uncontrollably, black tar gushing forth; I was dimly aware as it began oozing its way up my legs and to my torso, climbing its way toward my head.

I couldn't bring myself to care, my head was in a hate-filled fog; hate was the only thing that was left. Hate towards the figure for what it was doing to Ruby, hate towards myself for my helplessness.

Hate, hate, _**h**_ ate, _**h**_ **at** _ **e**_ **,** _ **hate**_.

Then without warning, a feeling like cold water splashed upon my face, and I gasped as I emerged from the fog, my mind suddenly clear.

 _ **What?**_

The tar around me stopped its advance and began to solidify, becoming a thick crust that cracked, and then began blowing away, like dust in the wind.

 _ **No, it's IMPOSSIBLE**_.

I felt something grab me by the collar and yank me up, up, up, leaving the shadowy figure watching impotently after me from far below.

He let forth a scream of rage, and my hands slammed over my ears futilely as it felt like someone had driven an ice-pick into my forehead. I felt something ripped out of me, like a thorn had been pulled out of a festering wound, and I emerged into the light.

* * *

I sat bolt upright, gasping for air as I took in my surroundings.

Jaune fell back on his ass as he jerked away from me, Winter for her part, remained impassive, her face mere centimeters away from mine. She stayed like that for a moment, calmly looking into my eyes, before giving a single, sharp nod and getting to her feet.

"Glad to have you back with us, Qrow, it was touch and go there for a moment."

I didn't respond as I turned my head to look at my left arm; the sleeve had been torn off to the elbow, and where the black pustule had been, there was now a large, black scab.

"Looks like you had a run in with Specimen 1347." Winter remarked.

I gave her a sharp look, "You know what this stuff is?" I asked, gesturing to the scab.

She bit her lip, "To say that would be a tad presumptuous. We found small puddles of the substance in the ruins from which we extracted the shard." She shrugged, "We managed to contain them fairly easily, but noted that it had an extreme capability for infecting living organisms. In the writings recovered from the site, we found some references to it as 'The Devouring Plague'."

She pointed to my cape, which was draped over my chest. "You're the first person to have survived such an advanced infection to my knowledge, that cape truly is wonderous. Despite our best efforts, anyone else who was exposed to it simply turned into a gibbering monstrosity."

"Pleasant," I remarked as I clipped the cape back on, "Why didn't you mention this stuff sooner?"

She shrugged, "Honestly, I believed it to be a minor issue compared to the shard and its voices. From what Jaune was telling me though, it sounds like it might be a much bigger threat than I had previously thought. Jaune told me that you said that you were in a room where the entire floor was a Conduit to Agartha?"

"Yeah, at the bottom of a huge shaft if that helps."

She bit her lip and nodded, "It does, if I'm right, that means that was Area 36 of the facility. It's where we had drilled down into an ancient cavern that contained the largest Conduit we had ever seen. If it's really filled it, then it has flooded a volume of several hundred cubic meters at least."

I let out a long, slow breath, "Well, that's… bad."

Winter didn't deign to give that a response, instead offering me an outstretched hand. Despite myself, I made sure to take it with my right hand, and she helped me to my feet.

"Thanks."

"Is our last guest finally ready?"

I nearly jumped as Ironwood's voice came from right behind me. I managed to compose myself and turn around to see the madman beaming widely; and then my gaze moved past him and my jaw dropped.

The space we were in was so large that the ceiling simply stretched out of sight far above our heads, the walls started out close, but diverged off, stretching far out of sight as well. Directly ahead of us was a large tunnel made out of wildly colored fabric. Beyond that I could make out a myriad of lights, along with a Ferris wheel, I could barely make out a gigantic tent in the far distance that must have been at least several stories high.

"Welcome, at last," Ironwood dramatically flourished to indicate the sprawl behind him, "To the Carnival!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

My own experiences of carnivals and festivals as a kid pretty much only consisted of the Vytal Festival, which is mostly just a bunch of food stands with a couple of simple games; as well as one circus that our tribe ended up robbing when I was a kid. I remember being awed by the equipment and the rides, even as the elders tore them apart for scraps.

That looked like a back alley shack compared to what was before my eyes now. Ironwood led us down a walkway and under a large arch which read, 'The Carnival At the End of the World!' in large bold letters. All around us were rows and rows of booths and tents with signs in bold text.

As we stepped inside, Ironwood turned to us, "Welcome to the Carnival! Relax and enjoy the sights, the sounds, and the rides!" He extended his hand to gesture grandly all around us. He waved a finger at us admonishingly, "Just remember, follow the Rules; otherwise, enjoy!"

He then whirled around and walked off between two of the tents, disappearing from our sight.

I then immediately turned to the group, "Okay so first off, this place practically reeks of eldritch energy, so everyone not named Qrow or Winter." I pointed right down at the ground, "You are going to stay right here while we check the place out."

Winter nodded, "Agreed," She turned to the two soldiers, "Specialists 117 and 4-"

I shook my head, "Another thing, there is no way that I'm going to be bothered to remember those freakin' numbers, so from now on, we're calling people by actual names."

Winter gave me an annoyed look, but acquiesced, "Onyx and Sable, you hold this position while I go try to find out where we are in the facility." The two saluted and the white-haired woman glared at me as she walked off.

Jaune seemed content enough, but Kali walked up to me, "Is this really necessary? I can probably handle most anything here."

I nodded, "Exactly, Jaune's actually become pretty handy with anima, but he knows jack squat about the supernatural. I want you here to provide that know-how and protect those two." I jerked my thumb at the two Atlesian soldiers. "I'm sure they're competent enough, but without some kind of edge, mortals are usually just lambs to the slaughter in places like these."

Kali bit her lip, "Well, I guess when you put it that way."

I patted her on the back, "Great, thanks, I just don't want any of them to bite off more than they can chew."

She grinned widely, showing off her razor sharp teeth, "Don't worry, if anything comes to get them, I'll fight it off with tooth and nail."

I opened my mouth to reply when Jaune spoke up, "Please no more." He groaned.

Kali and I turned to each other, "What? Can't take the _pun_ ishment?" We asked at once.

Jaune slowly put his face in his hands and let out a long, slow groan and even the two soldiers had expressions like they had just taken a bite of something sour.

Kali and I simply laughed; I gave Kali a mock salute and then turned to start investigating our surroundings. I frowned as I stepped up to examined one of the booths that had a large pool with plastic ducks. Standing there silently, with its head down was a large wooden puppet with the strings extending up into the roof of the booth. I looked down the row to see that every booth had a similar occupant.

"Would you like to play?" I jumped slightly as Ironwood practically materialized out of nowhere, peering over my left shoulder. "Here." The man reached past me and knocked three times on the sign. The puppet inside the booth sprang to life, stepping forward, its wooden eyes staring straight at Ironwood, it opened a small door to allow him inside. "Step right up, step right up!" The puppet said, "Dunk for the apple and receive a prize!"

I frowned as I saw a large, green apple floating amidst the ducks. Ironwood winked at me as he bent over, "This one is one of my favorites." He admitted. He put his hands behind his back, he waited for a just a moment, and then without warning he lunged forward, grabbing the green apple in his teeth before quickly backing up in one smooth motion. Even as he did so, the ducks all suddenly turned and their little plastic beaks opened wide, revealing razor sharp teeth. The closest of them lunged forward, snapping violently at air where the man's face had been just milliseconds before. As I watched in fascinated horror, the little ducks descended upon one of their number who had the misfortune to be nearby. A few seconds later, they swam away before turning still once more, where the duck had been, another green apple floated innocuously in the water.

I turned my attention back to Ironwood as he tossed the apple to the puppet, who caught it and then shook wildly. Its jaw dropped open, revealing a small, silver coin, which Ironwood took and pocketed. The puppet shook again and then went limp once more.

"There," He said, "Just like that, knock three times upon the sign to play the game or ride a ride, just be careful, some of them have teeth!" He cackled madly before walking out of the booth and further into the carnival grounds.

I stared after him, "Puns from James…" I muttered, "What a day to be alive."

* * *

After my encounter with Ironwood, I sought out Winter, and found her at the edge of the carnival grounds, examining a steel plate.

"Good timing," She remarked as she stood up, the map of the facility in her hands. She pointed at the plate and I just barely could make out 'Area 289' on it. "This part of the facility was full of a strange technology we recovered from some ruins in Vacuo." She explained. "By channeling mana through it, we were able to project small bubbles of different realities."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

She spread her hands, "I'll be honest, I barely understood half of it." She admitted, "The idea is that these devices could implement a reality of the wielder's choosing in a small area."

I scratched my chin, "You think that's how all of this." I gestured around us, "Came into being?"

Winter bit her lip, "Maybe, but from what I understand the amount of mana that would be needed to create all of this." She shook her head, "Before it happened I would have said it was completely impossible; by using Class 8 monsters we were able to create a bubble approximately six cubic meters."

"I've killed a lot of Class Sixty Bajillion in my time." I remarked dryly

Winter gave me a look so venomous it made me glad I had my cape on, "Creatures like a Flying Polyp."

My eyebrows went straight up at that, "You managed to _capture_ a Flying Polyp."

She smiled at tad smugly at my response, "Two to be precise, although…" She grimaced, "One we had to destroy and the other is… currently missing."

I blinked slowly at that and she had the decency to look embarrassed, "So _that's_ on the to do list." I muttered. "Anyway, back on topic, so you're essentially saying that's not the cause of all of this…" I waved around at the carnival, "Or there was something so badass that it makes a Flying Polyp look like a chump; which does fall in line with the rest of what's happened here honestly."

Winter nodded, "Pretty much; it also means that in order to get to our destination we have to go through there." She pointed towards the massive tent in the distance.

"Well alright then," I said, "Let's take a look."

* * *

We arrived outside the massive, orange and red striped tent, and were stopped from getting any closer by a small turnstile surrounded by a chest high gate. A small slot with a crude drawing of a single coin was at its front.

"So…" Winter said as we both stared at the innocuous-looking obstacle, "How much you want to bet that something _really_ awful happens if we try to bypass this without paying?"

I grunted in agreement and examined the crude drawing, "I'm going to also guess that it's not going to take lien." I frowned as I remembered the coin that Ironwood had won by playing one of the games, "I think I've got an idea of what it will take though." I said reluctantly.

And so a few minutes later, I was bent over a small pool of motionless rubber ducks, staring intently at a small green apple. Sweat glistened on my brow as I had a mental image of a swarm of little ducks biting into my face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Winter asked me, watching with slight trepidation.

"I absolutely do _not_ want to do this." I responded, "But like so many things, I don't have much of a choice."

I waited perhaps a second more, steeled myself, and then darted forward, mouth open wide. I felt the flesh of the apple beneath my teeth and I clamped down hard. Out of my peripheral vision I saw one of the rubber ducks open its beak wide, razor sharp teeth glistening. It lunged at me even as I flailed backward; it missed my right eye by millimeters and I fell back on my ass. Staring as the water in the pool splashed and churned before falling still once more.I stood up shakily and let the apple drop into my hand, which I handed numbly to the puppet.

The puppet dispensed a silver coin, identical to the one it had given Ironwood and I grabbed it. I walked shakily out of the booth and gave the coin to Winter, who hesitantly patted me on the shoulder, "Nice job," Then she bit her lip, as though something was on her mind.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"It just occurred to me but…" She held up the silver coin, "We're gonna need five more of these… aren't we?"

I froze and then with great reluctance turned back to the booth, "I'll be right back."

* * *

I was shaking all over as I walked out of the booth, handing five silver coins to Winter, images of sharp, needle-like teeth coming for me flashing before my eyes. A series of four, bloody punctures were on my cheek from an attempt that had gone horribly wrong; and I could feel the warmth of my cape as some foul substance from the teeth-ducks was counteracted by its magic.

Winter patted me sympathetically on the back, "You did good." She said.

"Let's just grab the others and get going." I said brusquely.

We walked back to the group and as they saw us, Kali snorted with repressed laughter at my disheveled appearance; Jaune was slightly more sympathetic, "Are you alright Qrow? You look like hell."

I eyed Kali balefully, "I've had worse." I replied evenly, "Now c'mon, let's get out of here."

We made our way back to the turnstile in front of the tent, where Winter handed out the silver coins, "Everyone go single file, make sure it's one coin per person and don't rush. We don't want to set off any traps. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and I let out a slow breath as I walked to the turnstile. I put the coin into the slot and walked forward…

Only to be stopped as the turnstile didn't budge an inch and I heard the clatter of a coin falling into a tray. With a sinking feeling, I looked down to see the silver coin shining mockingly from a coin return tray that had materialized out of nowhere.

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered.

"Um, maybe try it again?" Jaune suggested.

I did so, and watched in disbelief as the coin fell through once again to clatter into the tray.

"Oh no you frickin' bastard." I muttered as I grabbed the coin, stuffed it into the coin slot, and then plugged the coin return slot with my hand. "I went through rabid rubber ducks with frickin' teeth to get this coin, you are not going to just reject it."

Suddenly there was a strange whirring and I looked up to see a mouth form on the turnstile. "That's where you're wrong bucko," It wheezed, through pearly white teeth, a obscene crimson tongue lolling as it spoke "I'm not taking any of that Sesterce garbage." It made a sound like it was hawking the world's biggest loogie, then shot something fast and silver at my forehead. I felt an impact like a fastball to the noggin and fell back flat on my ass.

My world became all spinning stars and silver coins for a solid minute; I was dimly aware of Winter and Jaune standing over me, their mouths opening and closing but I was unable to comprehend anything they were saying. Oh yeah… and Kali bent over, her hands on her knees as she laughed at my expense.

Finally I came to enough to get back shakily to my feet. Someone behind us cleared their throat loudly and I turned around to see Ironwood standing behind us, grinning widely.

"I'm quite enthused by your desire to get into the Main Stage." He said, "But I'm afraid that you are using the wrong coins. In order to acquire a pass, you will have to win a game from…" He threw his hands high into the air, " _The Gauntlet of Trials!_ " He proclaimed dramatically and then spun around on his heel, "This way!" He declared and began walking off.

I stood there for a moment and Winter handed me my silver coin, which I pocketed. "Well, it was a good idea." She said.

I rubbed my face, wincing slightly as I touched the puncture wounds that were still slowly healing, and I sighed, "Well after all, with good ideas like that, who needs bad ones?"

"This whole place is a bad idea." Jaune muttered. Damn, the kid was learning fast.


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

Ironwood led our group down one of the many alleys between the booths and rides until we arrived at a rather plain looking wooden stage in the shape of a large circle. On the stage was a large, circular object covered by a piece of canvas.

"Behold," The mad general declared as he stepped up onto the stage and ripped off the canvas, "The Wheel of Trials!"

It was indeed a wooden spinning wheel, with various lines of text, along with crude pictures, inscribed in sections all along it. "This," he continued, laying a hand on top of it, "Will decide what Trial each of you shall undertake in the Gauntlet."

"Neat." I responded, "So how exactly does this work?"

Ironwood rubbed his gloved hands together in excitement, "Well you see, once you all decide to participate, we shall spin the wheel once for each one of you. You will then decide amongst yourselves who shall accept the Trial set forth by the Wheel. Each person may only take on one Trial. Once all Trials have been answered, you shall receive a coin to grant entrance to the main stage for each successful Trial."

He spread his hands out wide, "Simple enough?"

"What happens to people who fail a trial?" I asked him.

I saw something dark and unpleasant flash through the madman's eyes, "Well, that depends on the Trial." He said.

"Right," I turned my head to look at the rest of the group, "Group huddle." I told them. We all stepped away from the stage, leaving Ironwood beaming happily behind us.

"So first thing's first, losing sounds really bad." I said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Kali muttered.

I shot her a look, "So try to keep on your toes; be sure that you understand every part of the trial. If you even _suspect_ you don't understand something, ask." I locked eyes with each and every one of them to emphasize my point, "Got it? I don't want anyone getting hurt because of a stupid mistake."

They all nodded and I turned back to Ironwood, who was still patiently waiting on the stage, that mad smile still firmly on his face.

"Alright, we accept."

"Excellent!" Ironwood enthused and suddenly we were enveloped in a brief flicker darkness.

When the lights came back on again there was a roar of sound and I blinked in bewilderment as I took my surroundings.

We were in the middle of what looked to be a coliseum, the stands stretched off into the darkness; the sound of cheering from them nearly deafening.

"Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls." Ironwood yelled, impossibly loud from the stage, which had risen up high above our heads, "To the Gauntlet of Trials!"

The crowd roared in answer to his declaration and a screen appeared high overhead, showing Ironwood as he indicated our group below him with an outstretched hand.

"Here, we have six brave souls who are willing to brave the Trials! Let's give them a warm round of applause!"

The stands overhead thundered as the unseen crowd cheered and clapped wildly. Finally Ironwood held up a hand and the whole coliseum hushed almost immediately.

"Now, let's see what the first trial shall be." He reached up, grabbed the wheel and gave a large heave, sending it spinning.

The silence hung over us as the wheel slowly spun to a halt, finally landing over what appeared to be a large hammer.

"High-Striker!" Ironwood boomed and the crowd erupted once more into cheers. He lowered a hand and then raised it high above his head. There was a rumble and from the ground emerged a gigantic steel tower, a bell at the very top. A large pad on a lever at its front, and a large, two-handed mallet rested on the ground in front of it.

"The rules are simple, use the hammer, ring the bell! Three tries to the contestant, are you strong enough?"

I turned back to the group, "Any takers?" I asked.

Winter turned her head to Onyx and nodded sharply. The man replied with a crisp salute and marched up to the tower. He grabbed the hammer with his hand and I could see his eyes widen as he picked it up. His muscles bulged slightly from beneath his uniform as he turned around to the pad. He stood there for a moment, taking huge, deep breaths, then he heaved the hammer high overhead, and with a mighty roar, slammed it onto the pad.

The lever shot into the puck on the tower, but I watched with a sinking heart as the puck merely nudged a little before falling back down with a slight _thud_.

"Too bad champ, that's the first try. Maybe try to put a little more *uumph* into it."

Onyx blinked slightly as he stared in disbelief, then picked up the hammer again, and his eyes narrowed suddenly. His muscles absolutely bulged and with another great shout, he slammed the hammer into the pad once more.

This time the puck shot up appreciably, reaching to maybe the mid-way point before dropping back down. At this point, the crowd was a mix of cheers and booing as Onyx hefted back the hammer, staring at it. With a numb expression on his face, he walked back over to our group.

"I… I don't know if I can do it 'mam." He said, and I could tell he was trying to keep his voice calm. "As soon as I swing the hammer down… it's almost like there's something wrong with it."

My eyes met with Winter's as we turned toward each other, "Rigged?" She asked.

I nodded, "Wouldn't surprise me." I rubbed my chin, "What exactly is wrong with the hammer?"

He shrugged, "It's like it becomes really light, it just has no momentum for hitting the pad. It very nearly flies out of my hand. Then when I bring it back, it gets heavy again."

I frowned, "Can you try something real quick?" I asked him, "Try holding it upside down."

He did so and his eyes widened, "It's light again." He told us.

I nodded as I looked back over at the High-Striker, an idea taking shape in my head, "Alright, this is what you're gonna do…"

When I was done explaining my idea, everyone looked skeptical, "Are you sure that's not against the rules?" Kali asked.

I shrugged, "What did he say? 'Use the hammer, ring the bell', by those rules, it's perfectly legit."

"But-" Winter began, still looking unconvinced.

I cut her off, "Look, him rigging the game wasn't in the rules either. Besides," I turned to Onyx, "Tell me honestly, if you were really to go up there, do you really think the result is gonna be any different if you try normally?"

Onyx shook his head immediately, "He's right ma'am," He told Winter, "To be perfectly honest, I'd like to give this a shot rather than walking up and just doing the same thing, merely hoping it'll work better."

Winter didn't like it but she nodded, "Do what you think is best." She told him.

Onyx snapped off a crisp salute and began walking back to the tower.

"It's the last shot, the last hurrah! Can our brave contestant pull it off? What do you think?" He addressed this last question to the crowd, who let out an equal mixture of cheers and boos.

Onyx looked calm as he set himself up, gripping the hammer tightly. His veins practically bulged out of his neck as he let out a yell and swung the hammer forward. Thenhe adjusted his grip, grabbing it by the head and threw it straight up. The hammer flew through the air, handle-first and slammed into the bell, causing it to ring loudly.

The bell echoed, the sound almost deafening in the sudden silence that filled the entire stadium. Ironwood stood, frozen in place upon his pillar. I saw his eye twitch and suddenly, as if that movement broke him free of a spell, he took a massive breath and shouted, " _We have a winner!_ " The crowd erupted into cheers, as Ironwood continued, "Yes, my, goodness me… a winner. Congratulations! Now if you would please step back to the group."

Onyx turned on his heel and walked back to the group, his entire body slumped slightly in relief, "Damn, I'm glad that's over." He said, then nodded to me, "Thanks Qrow, if you hadn't made that suggestion…" He didn't finish the thought and I waved him off in response.

"Hey, don't worry about it, after all, I'm the specialist here." I turned my gaze back to Ironwood. Despite my pretense of confidence, the reality is that it was only as Onyx was walking back that my heart slowed its frenzied beating. I had taken a huge gamble with my suggestion, betting on the fact that the rules as stated by Ironwood were like some kind of verbal, eldritch contract. It looked like I was at least correct enough that the mad general or the unseen crowd weren't taking exception to it.

"Alright then," Ironwood's voice boomed, "Our contestants are now 1 and 0, was it just a lucky shot? Or do they have what it takes to go… all… the… _way_?" He leered as he grabbed hold of the wheel, "Let's find out." Then he spun the wheel once more.

We all watched as the wheel spun to a halt, landing on a red balloon and dart.

"Pop the Balloons!" Ironwood roared.

A large wall emerged from the floor, and as we watched, a series of colored balloons filled themselves with air; looking like large, exotic fruits. A short distance away from the wall, a stand rose out of the ground, on top was a metal dish with seven throwing darts.

"The rules are simple, use the darts to pop all of the balloons, each time you pop one, you get to reuse that dart." Ironwood turned towards our group, "So who's the brave contender taking this challenge on?"

Immediately most everyone turned to me, "What?" I asked them.

"Well," Jaune said, "Not to put too fine a point on it, but you do spend a lot of time in bars."

I raised an eyebrow, "So that automatically makes me good at darts?" I shrugged, "Sorry to disappoint you guys, but no go."

"Right," Winter turned, seemingly slightly embarrassed that she had joined everyone else in making the assumption, "Anyone else?"

Surprisingly, it was the other soldier, Sable that stepped forward, "I'm a fair throw." She said confidently and then shrugged, "Besides I'd rather go up now and get it over with if you all don't mind."

I gestured to the small stand with the darts, "If there aren't any other takers, then be my guest." Truth be told I was a fair shot with darts, but there was a feeling in my gut that I needed to wait. Whether that was because of the fact that there was a challenge later that I would be better suited for, or for some other reason, I had long ago learned to listen to instincts like that. So I watched along with the others as Sable walked up to the dish.

She selected one of the darts, and the crowd went silent as she eyed her throw. With bated breath, I watched as she cocked it back, and then released it, sending it unerringly towards one of the balloons.

It hit it dead on and with a muted _pop_ the balloon burst; there was a blur on the dish, and the next moment the dart she had used reappeared. "That's one! Ironwood announced, "Just twelve more to go!"

The next few moments were uneventful as Sable nailed shot after shot on the balloons, the crowd cheering with very successful hit. I watched, my eyes alert for any kind of trickery.

Finally, one the very last balloon, Sable missed her first dart, throwing it too hard. It flew above, the balloon, colliding with the board, almost directly across from her arm.

"Oooo…" Ironwood pouted, mirroring the crowd's own moan of disappointment, "So close to a perfect challenge! Never matter, there are still six darts left."

Sable seemed to be thinking along similar lines, grabbing the next dart and just hurling it. It was a trick I had seen done by other dart players; depending fully on instincts and muscle memory rather than risking losing momentum by analyzing fully how they had missed.

I frowned as almost the exact thing occurred, the dart slamming above the last balloon. The crowd let out another groan, "Five darts!" Ironwood cried.

This time Sable took her time, carefully picking up the darts and throwing them, but every single one missed, all of them above the last balloon, almost like there had been absolutely no drop off.

Finally, when she had just two darts left, her nerve broke and she whirled around to walk back to us. "What the hell is going on?" She muttered, "I've even tried just lightly tossing it and it just goes to the same place every time."

Winter turned to me, "Qrow? What are your thoughts?"

I frowned, "There's a couple things it could be…" I said slowly, "Although the solution to it mostly boils down to the same thing." I turned to her, "Try walking up to it." I told her.

Sable frowned, "That's against the rules-"

I cut her off, "No, just like last time, remember _exactly_ what Ironwood said. He said to use the darts to pop the balloons; at no point did he say anything about just walking up and poking them."

Winter took a deep breath, "He's right."

A few seconds later, Sable walked up to the dish and grabbed the second to last dart. With the air of a woman walking to her execution, walked past the dish, and to the board. She deliberately stretched her hand out with the dart and poked the balloon.

In the silence that followed, the sound of the popping balloon was almost deafening.

"Winner!" Ironwood cried; and the crowd erupted into cheers.

Sable walked back over to us, relief etched on her face, "By Dust and bones." She swore, "I was sure that I was going to drop that blasted dart I was shaking so bad."

Winter shook her head, "You did fine." She reassured her, Onyx and Jaune immediately joined in. While they were comforting the woman, Kali tapped me on the shoulder.

"This has been too easy." She whispered to me.

I grimaced, "I've been thinking the same thing." I responded.

"Why do you think that is?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath, "I think because Ironwood's just been getting warmed up, I think he's been somehow deliberately picking things that we would send those two up first."

She bit her lip, "What do you think he's after? Scratch that, dumb question… _Who_ do you think he's after?"

I shrugged, "Tough to know." I replied as I looked around our group, "But unfortunately I don't think we're gonna be able to figure it out until we learn the hard way."

"Great," Kali muttered as we both turned to see Ironwood preparing to spin the wheel again, "My favorite."


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

Ironwood gave the wheel a massive heave and it spun around and around. The crowd went silent and the wheel slowly came to a halt, the pointer indicating a slice of the wheel with a setup for-

"Limbo!" Ironwood roared, "How low can _you_ go?"

The crowd began to applaud and cheer, and I turned to the others, "I'll probably go up on this one," I told them, "After all, I can just turn into a bird and-" I paused as I saw everyone's gaze begin to wander away from me and back to the wheel. I frowned and it was that point I noticed that the crowd had gone silent. I turned back around and looked back up at Ironwood to see that the picture had shifted color to a deep red.

"And folks it looks like we have our first _extreme_ challenge!" Ironwood boomed. The crowd went wild and I watched as the limbo sticks emerged from the ground. "In this Extreme Carnival Limbo," The mad general continued, "There's going to be a slight…" Massive blades suddenly shot out of the top stick and began swinging back and forth, almost like a pair of gigantic scissors, "Twist." Ironwood finished.

"See, I would've gone with _edge_." Jaune joked nervously.

"Not bad kid," I replied, trying to keep my tone confident, "Not bad."

"The rules of the game are simple," Ironwood shouted, "The contestant will have to pass under the Limbo three times, each time, the top stick will get lower, and the blades will swing faster. So," He turned his eyes down to us, "Who is going to be our brave contestant?"

I looked at the contraption with more than a little trepidation. With my Semblance I could probably handle it, but it was going to be tough.

Suddenly, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I looked to see Kali beaming widely at me with her sharp teeth, "Allow me." She said and she walked confidently towards the sticks.

"Here she goes, folks." Ironwood said, his voice almost quiet as Kali walked up to the sticks, "Let's give her your support!" He lifted his hands high and began clapping slowly, the audience followed suit. Kali stopped in front of the bar and its sweeping blades, then began bending backward slowly, the pace of the clapping growing as she did so.

She continued to bend, and then I could have sworn I saw her stumble, but then I felt a flash of cool air and she abruptly stabilized. At this point, her hair was almost touching the ground, well below the bar. I saw something flicker and I frowned as I peered closer. Right along the top of her back, the dirt seemed to be swirling a little and then I understood.

Kali was using her power over air in order to support herself, no doubt running a cushion all along her back. The sheer control of power she was demonstrating was honestly more impressive than if she had been doing it by pure flexibility and strength. With a slight lurch, she crab-walked forward, easily passing under the bar and its blades. Then she shot up, waving to the crowd with a wide smile on her face; the crowd cheered, breaking out in applause.

Then Kali turned back around and the bar practically leapt lower, and another pair of blades emerged. She then repeated the process over again, slowly bending backward as the clapping of the crowd once again fell into sync. This time, she glanced up slightly to observe the blades, and I saw the swirling air go behind her slightly. This time, she practically shot forward, and I realized that she was using the air itself to accelerate her forward, however, as she shot past, the blades suddenly lurched, going out of sync. There was a flash of blood and the crowd let out a jeer, even as I heard the others let out a cry of shock behind me.

Kali's head rolled along the ground, it's expression frozen in part shock… and part annoyance.

"A little help here?" She called over to us.

I heard gasps of surprise behind me and I sighed as I walked up to the head and picked it up.

"Cheating bastard." Kali's head muttered, even as the body sat upright, its arms crossed.

"He never said the blades would keep to the pattern," I answered, "Just like no one said you couldn't use that wind power of yours. Nifty trick by the way." I looked up at Ironwood and saw a slight hint of surprise on his face at the events unfolding below him and the jeering of the crowd faded away to an uncertain murmur. "Just be glad that he decided to go all dramatic and slice off your head."

"He won't make the same mistake twice," Kali replied, "But I've got a plan for that, first though, would you mind getting me to my body?"

I nodded and began walking over, I set her head firmly down on the neck. For a moment, I was holding a wobbling head on top of a neck, the next Kali was rotating her head from side to side. She got up and stretched and the crowd began to applaud hesitantly.

I looked up at Ironwood and I saw comprehension flare into his eyes as he realized what happened. For just a second, something dark and nasty flashed across his face, then he was all smiles. "Well folks," He boomed, "That truly was unexpected! It looks like our contestant has beaten the second try, but can she master… _this_?" He waved his hand and abruptly the bar dropped again and the blades blurred across the tiny gap, almost like a razor.

My heart plummeted slightly as I stared at that death trap, but beside me, Kali chuckled, "What's with that face?" She began walking up to the limbo bar once more, "Watch and learn bird-brain."

"Just don't lose your head out there." I answered.

Kali simply shot me a toothy grin and then stopped in front of the bar, her face suddenly serious. Goosebumps flared on my skin as I heard her chanting slightly under her breath in the old tongue; I could practically taste the mana as the former High Priestess of Kir'ala channeled the power of her master.

One moment Kali was standing in front of the limbo bar of death, the next there was a gust of wind. Where she had been standing was a swirling whirlwind, it arced downward and shot through under the bar. I blinked and the next thing I knew, Kali was on her knees, panting heavily on the other side of the limbo bar.

For a moment, there was a pause, then then the crowd burst into cheers and applause. "We have a winner!" Ironwood roared, perhaps just a bit later than he had for the previous events. I looked up, trying to read his expression, but he was all smiles. I walked over to Kali, who grinned weakly at me.

"Told… you…" She panted.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah, everyone's impressed." I offered her a hand. She grasped it and I helped her to her feet, where she wobbled unsteadily. "Damn, looks like that really took the wind out of you."

Kali glared at me slightly, "I want a truce until I can catch my breath."

I grinned, "And take the wind out of my sails?"

"I swear to the Wind Lord I will bite you Qrow."

We continued back and forth until we arrived back at the group, whereupon Winter's blade shot to rest lightly under Kali's chin.

I stepped forward, "Alright Winter, one: you literally just saw Ironwood try that, look how well that worked, two: she's on our side and has already saved my hide more than once, so put that damn thing away."

"You knew that she was one of those… things?" Winter demanded of me.

I nodded, "Yeah, when we first met she tried to bite my head off."

"To be fair, I later learned that it would have been a pretty hollow meal." Kali joked weakly.

"Point is, she's only half Rokurokubi; mortal enough that some cultists wanted to use her as a sacrifice, she's on our side."

Winter flicked her gaze to me, then back to Kali, bit her lip, then nodded sharply. She sheathed her blade, "Very well, but I shall be watching you, Rokurokubi."

Kali grinned at that and shrugged, "Sure thing."

That little crises put behind us, I turned back towards Ironwood, who was revving up the wheel once more. He spun it and the arena went silent as it went round and round, finally resting on…

I frowned, "Is that… a basketball hoop?"

"Three pointers!" Ironwood boomed, "Get the ball through the hoop from the three marked positions, you have three tries at each spot. Simple as can be!"

A basketball hoop emerged from the ground, along, with three large red 'X's marked in an arc around it. A small stand with a rather normal looking basketball emerged in front of us, and I turned to Winter.

"Jaune?" I asked her.

She nodded, "Jaune."

I watched nervously as Jaune stepped up to the first marker, I had seen just how clumsy the kid could be sometimes. However, after that death trap limbo, this was too good of a chance to pass up to get him something fairly normal.

I watched him dribble the ball a couple of times, look up at the net, and he shot.

 _Fwoomp_

I blinked, nothing but net.

The red 'X' beneath him suddenly turned green, "What the hell?" I murmured. The ball vanished and returned back to the stand. As the kid went back to retrieve it I stopped him, "Okay, level with me, was that just a lucky shot or…"

Jaune grabbed the ball "For a couple of summers my parents wanted to get away, so they signed my sisters and I up for basketball camp.:

I raised an eyebrow, "So let me guess, since you have two left feet, you were left at the line and would just sink them from the three-point line."

Jaune grimaced slightly, "Pretty much… yeah."

I patted the kid on the shoulder, "You really are a man of many hidden talents, go get'em hotshot."

He grinned slightly and walked to stand on the next marker, he dribbled twice, then shot again.

 _Fwoomp_

Once again, the 'X' turned from red to green and the crowd cheered.

Jaune retrieved the ball, his face calm and full of concentration. He went over to stand at the next 'X' dribbled twice, and shot. The ball went into a graceful arc toward the basket…

 _Twang_

I blinked, at the last second, the net seemed to leap to the side, knocking the ball off the backboard to fall to the ground. The ball reappeared at the stand and I grimaced, "And there it is." I muttered.

Jaune stood for a moment, obviously pondering the situation, then his expression seemed to brighten and he turned back towards me. "He didn't say anything about chopping down the basket." He drew his sword and it began to hum with golden light.

I shrugged, "I guess not." I called back.

Jaune began to walk up to the basketball net, his blade in hand.

It was at that point that some instinct made me look up at Ironwood. I froze at what I saw there, there was something too hungry, too excited as his eyes tracked Jaune as he made his way to the net.

I turned back around, alarm bells ringing in my head, but I was too late. Even as I opened my mouth to stop him, Jaune's blade was already swinging toward the pole to slice the net down, and as I now suspected doom him to a horrible fate.

Just as I was beginning to despair, there was a flash of white light and when the spots had cleared from my vision there was a massive white blade extending from a swirling glyph in the ground; neatly intercepting Jaune's own sword.

I turned to see Winter, her face set in concentration, she saw me staring at her and she shrugged, "I saw from your face that something was wrong." She explained, "So I did the only thing I could think to do."

I nodded in silent gratitude, my relief so great that I didn't trust myself to be able to form words. I turned back to Jaune, who stepped back, his expression bewildered as he turned back and forth between us and Winter's Semblance.

I walked up, my eyes searching until they finally rested upon a small board that was attached to the base of the basketball hoop. I knelt down and read them aloud, my voice shaking slightly as I did so.

"Additional Rules: No magic or Semblance may be used upon the basketball or the net. The ball and basketball net may not be not be altered or controlled in any way."

Everything was silent as I stood up, and turned my eyes up to the darkness above.

"But the net moved!" Jaune protested, "That means Ironwood broke the rules himself!"

I shook my head wearily, "The rules state that the net cannot be altered or controlled, which means that there's an enchantment or something already on it." I turned to Jaune, "The good news is that means he also doesn't control it directly; it's acting on its own accord."

Jaune bit his lip, "Then maybe we can have Kali use her wind to-" Then he paused, "No magic can be used on them and it can't be controlled."

I nodded slightly, "Which leaves us with precious few options."

Jaune's face lit up, "What about the markers? There's nothing saying that we can't move them closer."

I frowned at that, and then shook my head, "I don't know if that will necessarily help, that doesn't really stop the basket from moving."

Jaune looked close to the edge of despair, "So what do we do?" He asked.

The crowd around us began jeering, obviously impatient for the trial to continue. However, even though I wracked my brain for any possible solution, nothing was coming to me. I fiddled with the cap to the flask nervously, no magic, no Semblance… what the hell was even left if we couldn't do anything to the net or ball. If we could guess how the net was going to move maybe, but it seemed so random that would mean practically being able to see the futur-

Then I froze and I looked down at the flask at my belt, an idea beginning to take shape.

"What is it Qrow?" Jaune asked.

"I think…" I said, "That I need a drink."

"At a time like this? Really?" Jaune asked in exasperation.

Then I uncapped the flask and his eyes widened as he saw the golden light pouring softly out of the flask. "Whoah."

"This is gonna suck," I muttered, then I quaffed down the flask to about a quarter; and as the anima coursed through me, I used it to unlock the part of my mind that I had tried to drink into oblivion. There was a feeling like someone had pounded a sledgehammer in between my eyes and a bright flash of light.

* * *

I blinked a few times and when I finally managed to focus, I found myself standing on a circular platform, pictures and images shot by in a river, zooming around me constantly.

On one I saw Winter leading a squad of soldiers over a hill, bearing down on a group of Grimm. In another I saw Ruby wielding a sword and shield, wearing a red tunic and a floppy red cap on her head, a golden tatoo in the shape of a circle on the back of her hand.

In yet another I saw myself, wearing an eyepatch and with a motley looking group of men and women. Bizarrely we were flying amongst the stars on what appeared to be a wooden sailing ship. One of the images screamed right by my face, and I could hear a distorted warble sound from it as I saw some fish-like creature waving a crude machete, its eyes red, with spines raised along its back.

The images were so many and coming so quickly; all of them drew me in, allowing me to catch a glimpse of realities and worlds I could barely comprehend. That's when the voices started; at first they were merely a whisper, a constant sighing in my ear. Soon however, they grew louder and louder, some of them were cheers, some of them were cries… pleas for help or for mercy. Many of the voices I recognized, but just as many were completely foreign to me. They bore down upon me, driving me to my knees and I could feel a chittering madness creeping like vines upon my psyche.

I grit my teeth as I shoved all of that away, grabbing onto why I was here in the first place with a desperate intensity. Slowly I was able to wall off my consciousness behind a thin barrier of sanity and purpose. Then I expanded it outward, slowly reclaiming my mind from the madness that had engulfed it. Finally, with a roar I shoved the last of it out even as I shot to my feet, and just like that, the voices stopped.

Panting from the effort, I looked around and for the first time, realized that I wasn't alone. A few paces in front of me was a swivel chair, its back turned to me. However, I could see a figure was seated there, his arms resting on the sides and a pair of large, white rabbit ears peeking out from the top.

"Uhm… Hi." I managed.

"Hello yourself… Mr. Branwen."

I rose an eyebrow, "You know who I am?"

"Yes, we've had this conversation before, and we'll have this conversation again. You are currently later than 623,809 realities and earlier than 439,000. Of those that will make it here of course, of the others… well… there are literally infinite."

I frowned, "Slow down, what are you talking about?"

The figure sighed as he turned his chair to face me. He was a extremely obese man in a massive blue waistcoat, a massive pocket watch that looked like it was made out of some kind of wood was resting on his stomach. The pocket watch continuously ticked along, however, instead of merely a few hands, more thin little pointers than I could even fathom raced along, spinning in an almost hypnotizing manner.

The man's face was wide, with a series of chins running down along his neck, a pink little nose twitched above his pouting lips, but in contrast to all of that, his eyes were sharp and alert as they stared at me, unblinking.

"I… am Aforgomon," He said.

"Pleased to meet you." I answered.

His fleshy lips parted into a small smile, "Ah… _this_ reality… how droll." He turned back around, "You wish to find the reality in which the young Chosen One puts a little ball through a hoop that is moving due to the spirit of a soul-rended Migo." I heard him smack his lips as he reached out and grabbed one of the images that were passing by. I frowned as I saw it was of Ruby and Yang standing amongst other women mounted on what appeared to be flying wolves. There was a slurping sound and the image disappeared. There was the sound of satisfied smacking, "Silly reality anyway." He murmured, "I mean really."

"So um…" I swallowed nervously, "Can you help me?"

"My dear Mr. Branwen… I already have, why do you think you possess the ability to see time as you do in the first place?"

I frowned, "But Tlaloc said…"

"That you received those powers because of your unique position when your reality jumped ship… technically true, but that just made it possible; I was the one who actually gave you the keys." He let out a long sigh, "There are 37,391 realities in which you didn't receive this power… all in which Xexanoth did not stand upon the other side. As it is, I find him incredibly tiresome," He turned slightly, "By the way, there are only 121 realities in which you are successful in restoring your reality without my power… you're welcome."

I blinked, "Wait, you know whether I succeed or not?" I asked him.

I heard a sigh, "Not...exactly, I merely watch the signs, try to determine which path that we tread on and whether that road ends with success or failure." He turned slightly, his eyes piercing, "And no, I will not tell you the odds of your success, you always fail when I do that." He scratched his chin, "As it is, I shall now show you the true power of that which I bestowed upon you." He lifted a single, droopy skinned arm and I gasped as I felt something ooze into my brain. It felt like fingers made of sludge had grabbed my mind and was turning it, twisting it. I barely managed to repress a scream as I felt something break with a sickening _snap_ and for an instant I wondered if it was my sanity.

"There." He said finally and the feeling receded, "I wish you luck Mr. Branwen. The Chosen One's choice fast approaches."

He disappeared and I looked up, the images before me were no longer chaos, there was a… stream… an order. I could now see a glimpse of what the strange being had been talking about; I could see the strands of time and reality, all weaving in and out of each other. Some strands branched off into darkness, others into light.

However, I somehow knew that those would not help me, as they were all paths that could have been, instead my eyes locked onto one particular strand that seemed to almost call out to me. I pulled on it and gasped as that strand frayed under me, branching out into thousands of possibilities. I grit my teeth as I sifted and sorted, until finally I found a single golden thread among a thousand… no a million others, and I pulled again. There was a single flash of clarity, and for the briefest of moments I could see all along that thread and its branches. An absolute cornucopia of emotions coursed through me as I witnessed the futures that could lie ahead, despair, suffering… hope. However, even as I did so, I could feel those futures fading, like a dream slipping out of memory. With an immense effort of will I concentrated until I could see the single piece of that golden thread that I wanted, the piece that would keep us on the golden thread and away from those strands that went into the abyss. I grabbed on and yanked with all of my might, pulling it up towards the surface of my consciousness.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see Jaune standing in front of me, waving his hand in front of my face, his expression worried.

"You okay Qrow? You spaced out for a second and then started shivering."

I shook my head to clear it, "I'm fine," I responded, even I as I stood there, the thread in my mind was fading and I grabbed onto it desperately, keeping it firmly rooted in my thoughts. "There's no time to explain, just stand on the mark and do exactly as I say."

To his credit, Jaune did just that, snatching the ball, he ran over to the last red 'X', and took up position. I looked at him, then closed my eyes, fixating the scene in my mind, the cheering, Ironwood booming into the microphone, the beating of my heart…

"Aim for the backboard!" I shouted at him… then I paused, waiting for that one, golden moment when it all aligned when we could jump onto that thread and follow it… _there_ , "Now!" I roared.

Jaune shot, the ball slammed into the backboard, rebounding wildly toward the ground, "Catch it!" I shouted, "Don't let it disappear!"

Jaune launched himself into a dive, catching the ball just in time. "Back to the mark, go, go, go!" I roared.

Jaune sprinted toward the 'X', and as soon as he planted his feet I shouted, "Shoot!"

The kid immediately jumped up, the ball flew through the air and the basket tried to jump to the side, but the ball was hitting the backboard, and it rebounded directly down…

 _Fwoomp_

The entire arena went eerily silent, the only sound being the basketball bouncing once, twice, then slowly rolling across the ground.

Then the crowd erupted into cheers and my gaze shot up towards Ironwood. The mad general's face was completely pale as he stared down at us, as though unable to understand what had just happened. I grinned in triumph even as the golden thread faded away into nothing at last, and I felt the last of the anima leave my body.

I turned just in time to see Jaune running up to me and he threw his arms around me, nearly sobbing in relief. I blinked slightly and patted him on the back awkwardly, "Nice job kid, you can let go now."

Jaune nodded and backed up quickly, "Thank you." He managed.

"We have a winner!" Ironwood announced and immediately the hairs on my neck stood on end as I turned my gaze back up to him. His expression at that moment was pure poison as he leered down at us evilly, "Let's spin the wheel for the final trial… shall we?" He reached up and spun the wheel, which almost immediately came to a halt over a section that merely had a giant '2'.

"Well folks," Ironwood said smoothly, "It looks like we have a two for one! One trial, two contestants, double the prize." He grinned and something vile flashed through his eyes, "We only have two more contestants, so let's get this show on the road." He lifted up a hand and snapped his fingers, and suddenly the ground rose up to swallow me, engulfing me in darkness.


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

When I opened my eyes everything was darkness, I frowned and tried to turn my head, only to find that I was securely fastened to something hard and unyielding. I tested against the bonds, finding that they were positioned at my neck, chest, and wrists.

At first I began to worry that I was trapped with that thing again, but thankfully I didn't have that unearthly, almost feverish feeling that I had whenever it had spoken to me.

"Hello?" I called out uncertainly.

Then suddenly the lights came on all at once, blinding me with their brilliance. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" Ironwood's voice boomed. "To the Double Jeopardy round!" The crowd cheered and as my eyes adjusted, I began to take in my surroundings.

Around me were still the familiar sights of the arena, with the sand beneath me and the stands with the roaring crowd around me.

However, the next thing I noticed was what I was tied to: it was made out of a solid, black wood, with rungs that had thick, red cords extending from them to my wrists and chest, holding me upright. Out of the corner of my eye I saw white lines engraved upon the surface of the wood, but I couldn't tell if they were random, or created some kind of design.

I looked up from my inspection and for the first time, noticed Winter standing on a small, elevated platform some distance in front of me. I frowned as I began to piece things together; then, I saw a small stand in front of her, and what I saw on there made my heart skip a beat as the realization began crashing down.

"In this contest, two contestants enter, and should they be victorious they will both leave with their prize. And that contest shall be… The Knife Throw!"

Ironwood paused to allow the crowd to noisily boom their approval before continuing. "In this contest, one contestant shall be on the wheel as the prisoner, the other shall throw the knives. The thrower's objective is to free the person on the wheel in ten throws, either by cutting the cords securing the prisoner or…" A vicious grin stretched across his face, "By liberating their soul from their body." A venomous glee suffused the mad general's voice as he said the last few words, leaving no doubt which method he would prefer.

"Should the thrower succeed in either of these things, then they shall receive the prize; if the prisoner is freed, they too shall receive the prize. However, should the thrower fail to do either of these things, they both shall lose, and face the penalty game." Ironwood let that sink in, "The rules are simple: ten throws, only the knives may be used to free the prisoner; the thrower must stay within the bounds of the platform. No one may assist the prisoner or the thrower in throwing the knives. No semblances may be used on the knives. Is the thrower ready?"

I grimaced. Those rules were more or less tailored to Winter, to my knowledge she had no magic, so preventing her from using it wasn't necessary. It also neatly dealt with any help the others could give her.

Seemingly undaunted, Winter stepped up to the stand and picked up one of the knives, feeling its balance, "Ready." She replied.

"Begin!" Ironwood roared.

It's okay, I reassured myself as concentration set over Winter's face, we may have our differences, but she's a professional. Besides, she's Atlesian Special Forces, at this distance, it should be a piece of ca-

Wow that stung.

I twisted my neck, examining the knife that had sunk itself next to my right wrist, neatly cutting the cord. However, the blade of the knife had cut into the side of my hand, which was now bleeding freely. Interestingly, my wrist was still held in place, no doubt to make sure I didn't get off the wheel before all the cords were cut.

That's odd, I thought with a clinical detachment. Far away from the part of my brain that was currently starting to panic slightly. She didn't have to throw that close, also my Aura should have at least somewhat helped against the blade; it's almost as if-

That's when I stopped and then looked from side to side, looking at the white lines with fresh eyes. They did form a design, damn it! It was at that point that a large screen descended from the ceiling and came to life, and confirmed my suspicions.

The design behind me was one I had encountered with a cult that had been running a singles resort: that had been a front for an operation intended to collect sacrifices for a goddess of love. The idea was simple: get a whole bunch of people together, use a combination of potions and magic to hook them up into somewhat compatible couples, then test how strong the 'love' they created was. Only couples with the strongest bonds were sacrificed.

This design was what had been used to test that bond. Essentially, it was a variation of a fate seal, where anything that could kill the person would be deviated to do so. At the resort they had used a gun in a 'trust exercise', the only thing that could counter it was a powerful desire to protect and never harm the person in question.

It was at this point that I considered just how many times Winter had probably wanted to do me bodily harm… hell, maybe even serious bodily harm; but her sense of professionalism and pragmatism had prevented her from doing so.

I began sweating profusely.

All of this ran through my mind as I watched Winter frown, and her eyes narrow with suspicion as she examined the design closely. She set her expression that I recognized she adopted when she was frustrated, a kind of tightness around the lower jaw… something that I was all too aware that I had caused frequently.

She grabbed another knife, aimed, and threw. My heart skipped a beat as the knife sliced through one of the cords at my ankles, nearly slicing off a few of my toes. Without pausing she picked up another knife and threw again, cutting the other ankle free. No doubt thinking she had found her rhythm, Winter grabbed another knife and threw, aiming for the other rope at my wrist.

The knife twirled round and round, and then sank straight into my arm at the bicep. I let out a cry of pain and grit my teeth as I glared at the offending piece of metal. I dimly noted that the design behind me had started to glow, no doubt it had increased in power, causing the knife to fly far more towards me than before.

"Hey, Winter-" I began, thinking to warn her about the seal when I cut myself off, cursing my stupidity. There was every chance that telling her about the seal would count as assisting her in throwing the knife.

Not that Winter even really seemed to hear me, as she was standing stock still, her eyes wide open in shock as she look at the result of her throw. She snatched another knife off of the stand and began testing its edge and balance; something I had seen her do sometimes with her saber in the past as a way of focussing and calming herself.

I blinked slightly as I frowned, damn, I had never been aware just how much of Winter's body language I recognized. I guess that's what happened when you fought alongside and against someone on and off for years.

Of course there's also probably nothing like that person throwing knives at you while you're tied to a wheel with a magical seal to give you a bit of hyper-awareness about their current state of mind.

Kali suddenly broke off from the group and walked up beside Winter, she stood to the side of the platform, saying nothing, her eyes fixated on the wheel. Then her eyes widened and I knew she must have recognized the design. Her eyes became thoughtful, but she did little else as Winter hefted the knife and let it fly.

I bit off another cry of pain as the knife sliced into my hand, but it cut the rope, now only my chest and neck were bound to the wheel.

Winter composed herself and picked up another knife, and without wind up, snapped it towards me; it sliced the rope and only nicked me a little bit on my chest. Now only the rope around my neck was left.

The rune began to brighten further, until it was like having a spotlight at my back and I could practically feel the power radiating from it. Winter's eyes narrowed and she picked up a knife, testing its edge against her thumb. She held it for a moment, as though considering it, then she turned towards me, stepped forward, and let it fly.

My life seemed to flash before my eyes, the tribe, Taiyang, Ozpin, Sir Geralt, Zorja, Luna, Yang, Ruby, Summer… Raven. All of them seemed to be watching me as the knife flew unerringly towards my throat. I closed my eyes, so this is how it ends, I thought.

Then there was a gust of air and I felt something prick my throat, the next sensation was of falling. Weird, I had time to think, I barely even felt it, the body must prevent any kind of feeling when-

Then I collided face first with something solid and gritty, driving the blade in my arm further in and I sure as hell felt every bit of that. I got to my hands and knees, spitting out sand and blinking it out of my eyes as I did so.

Slowly I put my hand to my throat, still whole, I pulled my hand away and looked at it. It was slightly bloody and my throat stung from where it had been slightly nicked, but otherwise I was unharmed. I looked up at the platform and saw Kali standing there, her arms outstretched.

I blinked as comprehension washed over me, that gust of air, no doubt that was Kali stopping the knife from stabbing into my throat; but that would mean that-

"Unbelievable!" Ironwood roared, "The rules have been broken! It was clearly stated that no assistance may be given in throwing the knives!"

My heart plummeted into my stomach as despair washed over me… while it had been a good attempt, it had broken the rules. My thoughts turned unbidden to the multi-limbed Carol, and the bloody monstrosity of Slate; just what kind of horrific punishment would we receive?

But Kali shook her head and she spoke, her voice redoubling to fill the entire arena, "That's false, I did nothing to break the rules."

The entire stadium fell silent at her words, "What do you mean?" Ironwood demanded.

"I did nothing to assist her throwing the knife." Kali declared, "I stopped the knife in mid air."

My heart hammered as I thought through the logic; what Kali said was correct in the most flimsy of ways, in targeting Winter with the rules, Ironwood had left a single tiny technicality. As long as magic wasn't used to help Winter throw the knife, it could be used on the knife.

Ironwood must have come to the same conclusion because his triumphant sneer fell into a bitter snarl. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, his face grew red, then purple. "We have…" He managed through tightly gritted teeth, "Our winners."

The crowd, seemingly oblivious to the mad general's ire, thundered their approval with applause and stamping. I slowly got up from the sand, and with a grunt, yanked the knife out of my arm. I began to reach towards my shirt to make a bandage when someone shoved a clean, white strip of cloth towards me. I looked up and Winter was there, her face unreadable

"Thanks," I told her and began wrapping it around, stopping the bleeding and letting my Aura take over.

She shrugged, "It's the least I can do." She looked like she was about to say something else, but then turned and walked back to where the others were standing.

I followed and Kali walked along beside me.

"Looks like we found out what Ironwood was trying to do." I said.

Kali nodded, "Guess so."

"Have to admit, it was pretty devious, get us used to circumventing the rules, then throw in a twist." I jerked my thumb back at the wheel, "Then when that failed, get two people who hate each other into something like this."

Kali frowned, "What do you mean hate each other?"

"The fate seal, I thought you recognized it and that's why you took matters into your own hands. Neat trick by the way."

Kali blinked slowly, "No, I recognized the seal alright, it's just that it was geared towards-" Her eyes widened, "Oh! Ooohhh!" Her mouth turned into a massive, sharp toothed grin and she began chuckling evilly.

"What?" I asked, stopping in my tracks.

"Nothing." Kali said sweetly as she kept walking towards the group

"No, seriously, what is it?" I demanded.

She only laughed wickedly and shook her head in response.

I scowled heavily and looked back at the design on the wheel, it was a fate seal alright, but it was slightly different from the one I had encountered before. Some of the lines were twisted, and turned, my knowledge of runes was pretty decent, but I had to admit, such minor alterations were beyond me. Eventually I shrugged it off and walked to the group.

"Are you alright?" Jaune asked anxiously.

I grinned at him, "I've had worse."

There was a rumble and the massive pillar upon which Ironwood stood began to lower itself until it was nothing more than a slightly raised platform. The mad general stepped lightly off of it and in his hands was a small bag.

"Here you all are." He said, his voice stony as he reached into the bag and his hand emerged with a fistful of coins. "Each of you won your trial, and thus each of you shall receive a coin to the Main Stage. He pressed a golden coin into each of our hands, a likeness of a ferris wheel engraved into both sides.

After he had distributed the coins, he turned around with a flourish and I watched as the stadium around us simply disappeared, and we were once more at the carnival.

"Now," Ironwood rubbed his palms together, "I hope to see you all at the Main Stage soon, as for me, I must prepare the shows for tonight." He bowed with a flourish, "For now, I bid you adieu!" He snapped his fingers and there was a moment of darkness, and when the lights came back, he was gone.

"Well then," I looked up towards the massive tent in the distance, "Let's try this again."

Despite what we had just survived, the mood of the group was far more apprehensive then celebratory. We all knew that all we had done was to plunge deeper into the rabbit hole, earning our way deeper into the nightmare.

We were all silent as we reached the turnstile, like before, I stepped forward first and inserted the coin, which slid in and the bar smoothly turned as I went through. Everyone else went through without incident as well and we began to walk towards the entrance of the massive tent.

We walked through the flaps and into a massive, dimly lit space. In the center was a massive wooden stage, surrounded by stands of seats that rose high towards the ceiling far above.

"Good evening honored guests." A man in a yellow suit walked up to us and bowed, "Would you by chance be Miss Schnee and company?"

Mentally I objected to just who got top billing around here, but out loud I said, "Yes, we would be, why?"

The man bowed, "Ironwood commanded that you be given the VIP box for the performances."

"Uh," I turned slightly to Winter, "We actually just kind of wanted to move on…"

The man's eyebrow lifted, "I'm afraid that's impossible, no one may leave the Main Stage until the performances are complete."

"Typical…" I muttered, "Very well, lead the way."

We followed the man up the stairs, as we went, Jaune tapped me on the shoulder, "They're all puppets." He whispered. I looked over at the stands, and sure enough, while at first glance it was difficult to notice anything peculiar; a closer inspection revealed wooden skin and joints with metal screws.

We arrived at a set of seats in a large, cordoned off area, the man escorted us inside and we all sat down. "Here are programs outlining the evening's entertainment." The man said, distributing small pamphlets, "Should you require anything else, my name is Pear." With that, Pear turned smartly and closed the door behind him.

I looked down at the program and read them off one at a time, "The Carnival at the End of the World: An Address by Ringmaster Ironwood, Herr Dresselmeyer's Amazing Doll, Intermission, A Penny for a Tale, The Finale."

I looked over the side of the ledge to see the stage far below, right as I did so, the lights began to dim, "Well then," I kicked back and rested my feet on the ledge, "Let's enjoy the show."


	28. Chapter 28

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise for his help with this chapter**

* * *

The lights continued to dim until the only light was a spotlight centered on the stage. One moment it stood completely empty, the next, there was a flurry of movement and Ironwood stood upon the stage, lifting a single hand to gesture grandly to the audience. There was a clatter of wood as all of the puppets in the audience applauded and Ironwood bowed, "Thank you. Thank you! You're much too kind."

The eerie applause slowly died away and Ironwood began to pace up and down the stage, "Welcome one and all, to the Main Stage of the Carnival at The End of the World! Here you shall see sights and sounds that will amaze you, astonish you, mayhaps even astound you!"

He stopped his pacing and directed his gaze up towards to roof, "Relax! Enjoy! Here at the Carnival you are safe, bound within the Contract that protects us all!"

I frowned at that line, my thoughts churning as the mad general continued. That didn't feel like that had been directed at us, it felt like he had been addressing the entire audience. Almost as if-

I blinked and then my gaze snapped to the puppets around us, my eyes taking in details that I had glanced over before; I began looking past the bizarre metal joints and the wooden bodies.

While it was difficult under the dimmed lights, I could make out that while the puppets themselves wore no physical clothes. White laboratory coats were painted on most of their bodies, while others had strange, curved designs that looked vaguely familiar.

Finally, I saw what I was looking for on a puppet of a woman maybe in her late thirties: on her chest was a square that had a gray box on top; on top of that was a very crude picture and a line of text: Lavendar Winters, Class B Personnel, Department: Umbrian Studies, Security Clearance: 3.

"Oh." I breathed, "Well then…"

"You noticed it too then?" Winter asked, her voice tight.

"Just now, damn what the hell happened to them?"

"I think we're about to find out." Winter responded..

I jerked my head to look back at the stage to see that a struggling figure was being brought forward by three, large puppets in the painted clothes that I now realized was Altesian body armor.

"This is Yale Smith," Ironwood shouted to the crowd, "He is one of us, but he had lost his way! Hiding in the air ducts like a rat, now, he too shall be saved!"

The man shouted and yelled, but Ironwood simply smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of gold, twisted into a strange, curved design. He held it high over head and the air was filled with chattering that I realized with a shiver was the puppets around us cheering.

Ironwood brought it down in one sharp motion, planting it right on Yale's forehead. The man's scream reverberated through the air. His body bent and twisted, his clothes sank into his skin, his joints began distorting, extending. The scream caught, then went silent, the man's head now completely wooden, his bottom flap still open in a silent wail.

Finally, the newly made puppet went limp, crashing to the ground in a heap. The audience applauded again, and the three other puppets grabbed him and dragged him off stage.

"Suddenly really glad you stopped Cerulean when we first encountered Ironwood." Onyx muttered, "And it's a damn good thing he didn't recognize any of us."

"Does that mean that all these puppets around us are…" Jaune gulped and sank into his seat.

"Look on the bright side." Sable piped up, "This means there's still a chance that we can save them."

Winter looked at me and I shrugged, "Depends on how exactly the enchantment works. I give it maybe 70-30 that they're still alive somewhere in those bodies."

Most of the group brightened up a little at that, but Winter and Kali's faces told me that they knew what I wasn't saying. Just because they were alive didn't mean that they would be after we reversed the enchantment, if we even could find a way to do that. Even if that all went well, they would never be the same.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to the stage, where Ironwood appeared to be giving his closing remarks.

"- A modern marvel of engineering!" He proclaimed as a large crate was rolled onto the stage next to him. "A beauty for the eyes, and a treat to the ears. May I present the creation of the brilliant Herr Dresselmeyer, his Amazing Doll!"

He bowed and stepped smartly back out of the spotlight and into the darkness.

The crate shifted slightly and the wood began to shift and twist like clay. When it was done, it had taken the shape of a giant wooden clam; a sweet tinkling began to emanate from within, like a music box. Slowly, ever so slowly, the lid lifted to reveal the figure of a woman. Who stepped forward into the light.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary young, black-haired woman with extremely pale skin, wearing a dress the color of gold. However, there was a shine to her skin that belied the fact that it wasn't flesh that covered her, but rather some other material. Her shoulders were overly large and they churned as the large music boxes that comprised them spun round and round, creating a haunting melody that hung in the air.

She twirled gracefully forward and then in a beautiful, enchanting voice, began to sing.

"Along the shore the cloud waves break."

"The twin suns sink behind the lake…"

Oh hell no, beautiful singing by an obviously supernatural entity? Screw that and everything about it.

"Cover your ears people." I commanded, doing so myself.

Everyone followed my lead instantaneously, which meant that we all realized at once that it was a futile gesture.

"Strange is the night where black stars rise,"

The melody and singing continued unabated, echoing from inside my own mind.

"And strange moons circle through the skies…"

I heard Jaune let out a choked cry as a dense fog descended around our box, cutting us off completely from the surrounding audience, but the music still sang:

"But stranger still is, Lost Carcosa."

I was suddenly aware of a massive presence within the fog directly ahead of us, a few moments later, that presence began to take the shape of a giant silhouette. I stood up and unsheathed Harbinger, and around me I could hear everyone else getting ready for a fight.

"Songs that the Hyades shall sing."

"Where flap the tatters of the King…"

All at once, the fog directly ahead of us cleared, revealing nightmarish figure in front of us.

He sat upon a wooden throne that had sharp spires upon its spine, piercing into the fog, its arms warped and with sharp thorns spread along their lengths. The figure itself was dressed in tattered, yellow rags; its face covered by a smooth mask that I was dimly aware was made of the same substance as the doll. Whose song continued as the masked figure stirred upon his throne.

"Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa."

He stretched out a gnarled hand and clenched it into a fist; unbelievable waves of force slammed down on me and I let out a snarl as I dropped to my knees. I heard several gasps and thuds as the others were similarly affected. The figure reached towards its mask, lifting it slightly off of its face.

Then there was a sound of a single footstep that sounded like a thunderclap. With an extreme effort of will, I wrenched my head to see Jaune still on his feet, his face set in a determined expression.

The figure jerked in its throne; its eyeless mask focussed on the student Huntsman as he took another step forward, his shield lifted in front of him and his sword held in, his entire form glowing gold.

"Song of my soul, my voice is dead."

"Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed…"

Jaune finally reached the front of the box, standing between us and the dreadful figure on the throne.

For a long time, the figure didn't move, frozen in place. Finally, it stood up from its throne and began walking slowly towards Jaune, an alien purpose in its steps.

"Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa."

I tried desperately to stand, straining against the invisible force that held me on the ground but it was no use. I was trapped completely as that _thing_ walked closer and closer to Jaune, who stood stalwartly in its path.

"Let the red dawn surmise."

"What we shall do…"

The figure stretched out a hand and Jaune let out a shout as he tried to swing his sword around, but he froze mid-swing, letting out a frustrated cry as the being's power slammed down on him. The figure seemed completely unperturbed as it laid its hand squarely on top of Jaune's head, who let out a gasp and his arms fell limply to his sides. There was the sound of sighing wind and I shuddered as I realized that the figure was whispering rapidly in the old tongue.

I began focussing every bit of my strength on simply trying to lift my weapon, hoping that the figure's hold on me would weaken as its attention was on Jaune; that's when I heard a small sound, and felt something skitter out from my pocket. I felt something crawl along my belly and onto my back and then I felt it bunch itself up and jump.

A blur of purple shot through the air, landing squarely on the figure's hand. I blinked in surprise as I realized it was the stone scarab that Ozpin had given to me in Agartha. It's mandibles opened and then closed upon the figure's skin; black spikes spat out of the scarab's eyes and stabbed downward into flesh like a pair of needles.

The scream that the figure let out shattered the world, everything spun around and around, and I could feel myself falling. The song became staticky and warped, and the fog closed in once more, covering everything.

Then all at once, the fog cleared and we were sitting back in our booth, upon the stage, the doll had fallen still. It slowly leaned forward and then fell onto the stage, and it shattered into pieces, the music boxes letting out a final tinkle as they ground to a halt.

"Well um…" Ironwood's voice boomed throughout the tent, "We apologize for the untimely end of that performance, we shall now be taking our previously scheduled intermission. Thank you for your patience."

Before the mad general's last words had even faded, our group descended upon Jaune, whose eyes were rolled into the back of his head, "Jaune!" I shouted as I grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Jaune!"

The student Huntsman gave a start and shook his head as though to clear it, "What, what happened?"

"Do you feel funny? Anything at all?" I demanded, "Kali, can you check him for curses?"

Jaune's eyes widened, "Wait, where's the King? He was trying to tell me something."

"Tell you something?" Winter asked cautiously as Kali passed her hands over Jaune, a blue light suffusing them.

Jaune nodded emphatically, "The Story, it's broken, we need to fix it."

"Right, sure." I told him as I glanced at Kali, who gave a meaningful jerk of her head, "Just sit right here with Winter for just a second alright?"

Jaune didn't seem to hear me, his eyes fixed on something in the distance, "The Story…" He murmured as Kali and I walked just outside of the box.

"You find something?" I asked her.

She grimaced, "Kind of... you know that necklace the Baba Yaga gave us? His isn't working anymore."

I think my panic must have shown on my face, because she quickly held up a hand, "But apparently he doesn't need it anymore. There's a seal on the top of his head, it's not quite complete, but it's doing what that necklace did and more."

I lifted my eyebrows, "Neat... so what's the catch?"

Kali suddenly looked incredibly uneasy, "Other than the fact that he's probably gonna be a bit loopy from being given it; especially since it was interrupted part of the way through? Apparently absolutely none."

I let out a long, slow breath, "Right, that's uh… ooof."

Kali nodded, "Yeah…"

Free boons from powerful eldritch beings are a good deal scarier than contractual ones. They meant that the being in question thought they were getting something from you; regardless of what you thought you were doing.

"Thoughts on this 'Story' thing?"

Kali shrugged, "Whatever it is, he'll likely be forgetting all about it soon; one of the pieces that was incomplete was a memory seal."

I let out a grunt, "Huh, I'm not sure whether that's convenient… or horribly foreboding."

Kali grinned, "Short-term the former, long-term, probably the latter. In any case, we should keep an eye on him, but he might just be safer than any of us."

I let out a sigh, "Alright sounds-"

"Thank you very much for waiting," Ironwood called out, I looked over to see several of the puppets armed with wooden brooms clearing off the now empty stage. "The next performance will be beginning shortly. Please return to your seats."

Kali and I began walking back to the box when I felt something shift in my pocket. I frowned and I reached into it, only to recoil as something pinched my finger hard. I grimaced and dived in with my hand, pulling out the purple stone scarab from before.

I stared at it for a moment, and unbidden, that thing's words ran through my mind, 'One of the stars in the play to save the world, but he's lost the script. Now he dances out ab-libs and impromptus on top of cryptic hints that he drops to ask for the lines.'

Whatever it was that Ozpin had given me, it had undoubtedly stopped whatever that thing had been doing to Jaune. My first thought was to immediately give fervent thanks; but there was another part of my mind that thought about those words and doubted.

"Come on, Qrow, you're gonna miss it." Kali called.

I shoved those doubts to the back of my mind, put the scarab back into my pocket, and went back to my seat.


	29. Chapter 29

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise for his help with this chapter.**

* * *

Even as I got back to my seat and sat down, I knew something bad was coming. I loosened Harbinger in its sheath and my eyes darted around us on the lookout for anything.

Winter leaned over, "What's wrong? Is it something about Jaune?"

I blinked and shook my head, "Nah, he's fine, for now at least." I quickly filled her in on what Kali had found and she grimaced.

"I see why you say 'for now'. Free boons from eldritch beings are almost never a good sign."

I nodded, "Agreed, but more pressing at the moment, I'm getting a bad feeling…"

Winter's eyes shot around our surroundings, "One of _those_ bad feelings?"

"Yeah, so just keep an eye out."

That's when a large crate was pushed out onto the stage by two of the larger puppets. They then stepped back into the darkness, leaving the wooden box alone. I felt a sudden rush of certainty that was accompanied by a bizzarre air of deja vu.

"That." I nodded, "Whatever this feeling is, that's it."

Winter relaxed and one hand smoothly went to the hilt of her rapier, "What was this act called again?"

"A Penny for a Tale." I answered.

"That give us any clue?" She asked.

"None to my knowledge, just keep your guard up."

The two of us watched as the front panel of the crate began falling forward to smack heavily onto the ground.

A figure stepped out, a young girl with orange hair and wearing a yellow dress.

"Wait… is that Penny?" Jaune asked.

I frowned, "Who?"

"One of Ruby's friends. I know she's from Atlas, but why would she be here?"

"She was the subject of several experiments being conducted here." Winter replied.

"Why's that?" Jaune asked.

Winter shifted slightly, "She is a highly experimental android, built to be able to generate Aura even though she's a machine."

Jaune turned slowly, his eyebrows lifted, "Oh."

"And why in the world would you want that?" Kali asked.

Winter shrugged, "Kind of a proof of concept thing more than anything else."

The android girl reached back into the box and pulled out a ludicrously oversized phonograph, which she placed on the ground and cranked up.

If the previous song had been enchanting, what emerged from the phonograph was a stilted and wonky tune, lumbering through the air.

The girl smiled as the music played, "How are you all this evening?" She asked the crowd, her voice magnified to echo around the stands.

The puppets around us all chattered in reply.

"Terrific!" She enthused as a line of daggers began to float into the air to swirl around her, "My name is Penny, and I'm here to tell you all a tale…"

Behind me, Kali suddenly snorted with laughter, "Hah, cheeky… we're literally getting a Penny for a tale."

"This is a tale of a Sister and a Brother." Penny said as the daggers begin to twist and turn, and I watch as they began to form rudimentary shapes. That of a tall woman and a young man.

"Our tale begins in a garden." The other daggers flowed around and around until they formed trees and bushes.

"On this beautiful wintery day all the family was there; there was the Papa, the Mama, and the little sister too." The daggers formed a shape for each one, all sitting around a table.

"The Sister and the Brother though, they were playing by some rose bushes," The two original figures sat down and began playing patty cake.

"In the garden, things were sniffing and growling, looking for a meal." The daggers swirled around, "And they smelled the Brother and the Sister."

The daggers whirled and formed large, dog-shaped creatures. Beside me, Winter stiffened and my heart sank. Oh hell, I thought, don't tell me that-

"The Brother and Sister, they ran and they ran," Penny continued inexorably, "And all the family ran too, scurrying inside their nice, safe house, behind their nice, safe doors."

The figures all got inside the box, but the figure of the Brother noticeably lagged behind, with the Sister hesitating at the lip.

"The Brother, he begged, the Brother, he pleaded." Penny said in a mopey tone, "But the Sister, she closed the door." The figure stepped into the box, closing it behind her and the brother figure began pounding his fists on the wood; the dog shapes closing in around him.

"Chomp!" Penny said, thrusting one fist in the air, "Bite!" She thrust the other fist in the air, the daggers twisting and churning to form jagged pom poms; "Munch!" She hopped a little into the air.

"Chomp!" She repeated, lowering one of the pom poms toward the crowd, the wooden puppets chattered in reply, "Bite!" She called, continuing the demented chant. "Munch!"

"Chomp! Bite! Munch! Chomp! Bite! Munch!"

Beside me, Winter stiffened further and I could see her biting her lip; I hesitated for a moment, then put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tight.

"Chomp! Bite! Munch!" The chant continued, growing faster and faster until Penny's daggers whirled around in a crescendo, "GULP!"

She lowered her hands and the daggers slowly drifted along, pooling onto the ground, slowly forming the crumpled form of the Brother "But it wasn't the doggies who gulped." She said in a hushed tone, "Oh no, dear audience."

The Brother slowly lifted himself up from the ground its head bowed as it rose from sitting position and to its feet.

"No…" Winter whispered.

"Yes indeed." Penny continued, as though she had heard the quiet denial, "The Brother did not die that day, in fact, on that day… he… truly… LIVED!"

The Brother's head shot upward, and I gasped as I saw the figure's face. It was liquidy, as though the daggers had melted and congealed into an unwieldy mass and it let out a metallic scream that grated on the mind as much as the ears. Then all of the forms disintegrated as the daggers flew through the air to sheath themselves somewhere on the girl's back.

The puppets all applauded and gave their chattering cheers. I ignored it all, watching Winter. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were far away, as though focussed on something in the distance; she was saying something, words tumbling over one another in a whispered rush.

"No, no, no, he was _dead_. I know he was dead, but… oh no… no… no, don't walk into empty, don't, _please._ "

"Winter." I hissed.

"No, please… don't let it in… don't let it in…"

"Winter!" I said firmly, grabbing her hand as I did so.

She jumped slightly and her eyes were wild as her head snapped over towards me. I kept my face calm as I stared into her eyes. Slowly, surely, her wild expression slowly composed itself.

Finally, she gave a nod, "Thank you." She said quietly.

I gave a small smile, "Don't mention it."

She returned the smile weakly, "It was just that, that screech… it..." She shivered, "It was like it called my name."

"Don't worry about it, just one more of these damn things and we can get out of here." I shrugged, "I can't promise it will be any better though."

Winter gave a weak chuckle at that, "Knowing our luck, it will probably be worse." She straightened in her seat, fully composed once more and then glanced down at my hand holding hers.

I quickly released her hand and shoulder and cleared my throat, "So anyway, the Finale's next, keep your guard up people."

"I'm scared Qrow, will you hold my hand too?" Kali asked sweetly.

I turned and glared at her, she merely replied with a toothy grin.

"What's up with Ironwood?" Jaune asked, pointing.

I turned and lifted an eyebrow as I saw that the mad general appeared to be having a heated conversation with the young android as they walked off the stage, "Odd…" I murmured.

"He seems really agitated," Onyx noted, "I wonder if that was off script."

I frowned, "Might have been, the question if it was, what parts were and what weren't?"

With the stage cleared, Ironwood walked into the center with a microphone, a rictus of a smile on his face, "Well then, how is everyone?"

The audience gave a round of wild wooden cheers and applause. "Excellent!" He boomed.

"Man, he looks worse than when we got through that Gauntlet." Sable noted.

She was right, the fluidity in his movements was gone, instead, he seemed to jerk as he bowed and waved to the crowd.

"Excellent! Marvelous! Stupendous!" Ironwood rattled off one after the other, "Absolutely delightful; well then, to finish off our show, we have here a singer from the Golden Theatre itself. This song is from the Howling of the Moon, a wonderful opera from Menagerie about suffering, grit, and love… Give it up for Robert Chambers."

There was a polite wooden applause as a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out onto the stage. He was clothed in long yellow robes and his face was covered by a twisted golden swirl of a mask.

The applause slowly died down and the man lifted his hands high,

"Willow my love, why in that prison do you stay?"

"Come with me and we will be away."

"Ugh, way to let down the evening." Kali said.

I grimaced, she wasn't wrong… unlike the other singers and performers, this man's voice was absolutely terrible. He emphasized all the wrong words, and the tune was discordant to say the least.

"Look to the moon dear maiden…" The man continued, oblivious to our criticism,

"For there shall be your key. Come with me dear maiden, across the sea."

"The ship that will take us over the waves, it's name shall be…"

"Solpari."

I blinked, "That was old tongue."

Winter nodded, "Everyone feel okay?"

"Fine here." Jaune replied.

"We're good." Onyx said and Sable nodded.

I turned around in my seat, "Kali?"

My heart fell as I saw Kali's face was pale, "Something's wrong," She said quietly, "Something in the air's changed."

"How so?" Winter asked.

Kali bit her lip, "The mana here is thick, so much of it all around us." Her eyes shifted from side to side, "But it's like something is taking a big, huge sip of it… and it's not stopping."

"Well that can't be good," I muttered, my hand going to the hilt of Harbinger.

"... I know dear Maiden, I know the words that form your key…" The man continued to sing on stage and I felt something begin to shift and crawl in my pocket. I frowned and looked down just in time to see the scarab Ozpin had given me skitter out and onto the rail in front of us. Before I could react, it's back opened to reveal a set of wings that it used to fly down and out of sight.

"The words, the words given to me by the selkie old." The singer's voice grew louder, booming and echoing around and around.

"The words I now say are-" The man cut off, reeling back as something smacked into his mask. His hands flew to his face, as though wrestling with something and then he fell still.

"Needless to say," I said as I drew Harbinger, "Baaddd feeling."

"Ditto." Kali said, "If it was a sip before, it's like the mana's going down a drain. All of it."

The singer's face suddenly lifted, and the mask had changed. It was like it had melted and then re-solidified, flowing downward in jagged sheets; its color had changed as well, becoming a nauseous mix of black and gold.

Then his mouth opened once more, his voice warped and bubbly, "The words _**injected into me**_ _**by the Dreamers.**_ The words that form _**my key**_ the words that I say now are…"

The man's hands lifted once more towards the sky, " _ **I am the pirate signal,"**_ He boomed, " _ **And I am in!"**_

Before our horrified eyes, the man melted, forming a pool of black, tarry liquid that was horribly familiar.

"Oh hell." I breathed as the liquid began moving and shifting, forming bi-pedal figures whose flesh bubbled and oozed.

The big puppets from before ran out onto the stage, large clubs in their hands, smashing and bashing the creatures back into paste, but the pool was growing, and larger, fiercer creatures were starting to rise.

"Alright, out of here, _now_." I commanded.

That got everyone moving and we ran out into the stands, where the puppets were all jerking and writhing in their seats, chattering with terror.

"So what's the plan?" Kali asked.

"Get to Ironwood before that stuff does." I answered.

Kali lifted an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because we're going to need him to go further into the facility." I nodded towards the guard puppets still fighting, "Those things are his dogs, if they're attacking like that, he's no friend of that stuff."

Winter nodded, "Agreed, anyone know where he is."

"Last I saw him he was backstage." Sable replied.

"Right where that stuff is spreading." Jaune added nervously.

"That just means we have to move fast." I growled, "Let's move."

* * *

Running down the stands was like a scene from a nightmare. The puppets in the stands apparently couldn't really stand on their own. Some threw themselves onto the floor and began crawling towards the exits, others simply sat still, their mouths open in silent screams. Most though simply flailed and tossed in their seats, reaching their wooden limbs towards us as we passed in silent pleas.

Others were more insistent, clutching at us with wooden hands, attempting to latch themselves onto us. As we got closer to the stage, these began to grow in number, until it was like moving through thick brush.

We finally got down onto the stage floor, jumping lightly from the stands, Winter, Kali and I lead the way as we ran towards backstage.

There, Ironwood was surrounded by puppets who either had already been back there, or had crawled their way from the stands. They were all grabbing onto him, weighing him down to the ground as they chattered madly.

"Let go of me! I can help you but I need you to let me up!" Ironwood yanked one arm free, only to have his other to become similarly entrapped. "Idiotic puppets!" He spat, his eyes fixated on a stream of foul, black liquid that was beginning to flow towards the pile.

Then he saw us and he smiled, "Ah! Honored guests, would you be so kind." He nodded towards the puppets pinning him to the ground.

Winter started forward, but I held up a hand, "Not so fast."

I walked up to Ironwood, careful to keep myself clear of the puppets' grasping limbs, "We need safe passage through the rest of the Carnival." I told him, "No tricks, no traps."

"Whatever could you mean?" Ironwood asked, a drop of sweat running down his forehead as his gaze constantly shot back and forth between the stream of encroaching liquid and me.

"These 'attractions' of yours, you're going to tell us exactly how to survive them and how they work. You're going to get us exactly where we want to go."

"But that ruins the whole experience!" The mad general protested.

"So would getting gooped by that stuff." I jerked my head to the black liquid, "The question is, which would you prefer?"

Ironwood was silent for a while, then he spat, "Fine."

I grinned, "Great, now swear it by the Contract."

Ironwood suddenly looked uncertain, "I don't know if that's-"

"Don't even start." I growled.

He bit his lip, and then sagged slightly, "I do swear by the Contract." He mumbled.

"Aight, good enough." I stood up and invoked the power of Sarongar through Harbinger.

I could practically feel the weight of the puppets' gazes upon me as flames shot along my blade.

"Get off of him." I commanded, they hesitated, "Now!" I demanded.

With a cloud of resentment, they slowly let go off the mad general, crawling off of him and letting him free.

Ironwood shot to his feet, "This way!" He shouted and began to run towards a door in the side of the wall.

He opened it and shot through, we followed behind as he lead us through a long hallway. A steady sound began in the distance and my skin shivered as I realized that it was the sound of wooden rattling.

It grew louder and louder it was nearly deafening, we emerged from the hallway and into a large, dark room. As we stepped inside the lights came on and our entire group froze in horror.

Racks and racks of puppets lined the walls, all of them chattering in terror as they flung themselves off the walls and towards the other end of the room. Just past the writhing wooden bodies, I could see a large set of double doors with a round keyhole.

The room abruptly stilled and they all turned towards us as one.

"Is there another way?" I demanded Ironwood.

He shook his head, "No, since the performance didn't finish, all other ways will be shut. Only I have the key to that door."

I swore under my breath, and looked down at my blade, suddenly the roaring flames seemed kind of pitiful compared to the hundreds of puppets that looked like at any moment they might charge us. "Kali, can you blow those guys off?"

Kali grinned, "It'll be a breeze." She snapped back. She lifted her hands and began intoning in the old tongue. I felt just the slightest stirring in the air when she let out a gag mid-sentence.

I whirled around and my eyes widened as I saw the black liquid oozing its way over her arms. Kali stared at her limbs and then let out a strangled scream of pain that bordered on madness.

"The mana! It burns! Why does it burn?" She screamed, falling to her knees. I ran next to her side, heedless of the limbs clawing and snatching around us. I reached around and grabbed my cloak, yanking it off to wrap it around her shoulders.

The woman shuddered and began muttering under her breath, "Walk into empty, no pain, no pain, oh _**yes**_ sweetling. _**The Zero-Point sum, the equation of nothing dividing nothing, let him in.**_ "

"Damn it, Kali! Stay with me." I growled, "Let go of the mana!"

Kali looked up at me, but what was in her eyes wasn't her, but something else…

" _ **Heya Chuck,"**_ It was Kali's voice, but distorted and staticky, " _ **Enjoy the show?"**_

"You bastard." I snarled, "Let go of her!"

Not-Kali smiled, " _ **Oh c'mon, don't be like that, what's a little consumption of the soul between friends? I'm hungry, so hungry Chuck, and she's let me in."**_ The creature before me began to laugh when a golden hand came down and planted itself right on its head.

The screech that came from the thing's mouth rattled my brain and sent my eyes spinning. Numbly I looked down at Kali's arms to see the black liquid solidifying, cracking then falling off in large swathes. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the hand stopped glowing and lifted off of Kali's head, which lolled slightly to the side.

I turned to see Jaune, his eyes wide in disbelief as he started at his hand, "I don't know." He replied to my silent question, "It just seemed right."

I shook my head and turned back to Kali, her eyes rolled back, unconscious.

I picked her up and took a deep breath, "Alright, new plan, bulldoze our way through."

"I'll lead the way." Winter said and a trio of glyphs formed in front of us, forming a triangle around us.

"You heard her, let's go!" I yelled and we charged forward. The puppets let out a deafening rattle and rushed towards us. As they reached the glyphs however, they bounced off wildly, flying through the air.

"Awesome!" Jaune shouted as we plowed our way through the wooden mob and to the door.

Once we reached it, Winter re-adjusted the glyphs sending them behind us to keep the puppets back, "Open it, _hurry_." She commanded, her voice strained.

Ironwood yanked out his cane and slammed it into the the round hole, he gave it a sharp twist and the grinding of gears could be heard as the doors swung open.

"Get in!" I bellowed and we ran through the doors.

"The glyphs aren't going to hold!" Winter gasped as she stepped backwards.

"Don't have to." Ironwood said and waved his hand.

The doors slammed shut just as the puppets surged forward. Several wooden limbs flew past us, splashing into a small river behind us.

I let out a sigh of relief, "Well thank goodness that's over."

"But what the in the world." Winter breathed, "Is this?"

I turned around, "Oh what the hell..." I muttered.


	30. Chapter 30

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise for his help with this chapter.**

* * *

In front of us was a slowly flowing river; a garishly pink and yellow sign was on the far bank, 'The River of Love! Where you'll always be together!' it read. Behind an iron gate, there was a line of large, swan-shaped boats that stretched off around a bend.

"Alright, Ironwood." I said, turning to him, "What's this one's shtick?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, "It's a love boat ride."

"Right, but there's always one awful twist or another." I said patiently, "So what is it with this one?"

HIs eyes shifted away from mine, "I don't-" He began, then I held up a hand.

"Before you finish that sentence, I'm going to hold you to your oath, you swore by the Contract." I told him, "So think very carefully before you answer.

The mad general's face reddened slightly, "Fine," He spat, "If you so insist on ruining the spirit of our wonderful Carnival. It's controlled by the Weaver."

"The Weaver…" I said slowly, the name ringing a bell.

"Yes indeed," Ironwood continued somewhat enthusiastically, "The Weaver, the Anti-Frayer, the Changer, the Carver, The Creator of the Great Tapestry, The-

"She of a million names apparently," Kali wheezed.

"Kali!" I shifted around to set her gently down on the ground, "Are you alright?"

"Uh… I'd like to say 'yes', but uh." She grimaced, "That'd be kind of a lie."

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She looked up at me and smiled ruefully and my eyes widened as I saw that her teeth were no longer sharp as knives, "Um… that's kind of the thing." She said, "I kind of feel completely normal."

"What the hell?" I breathed.

She shook her head, "Search me." She answered, "All I remember was feeling like I was drowning in my own head and the next thing I know there's this huge flash of light."

"Amazing." I turned to see Winter gazing at Kali, her fingers drumming on the hilt of her rapier. "Specimen 1347 infected her when she began channeling mana that presumably had been corrupted. So when Jaune infused her with anima, he didn't just drive out the infection, he actually drove out the entire mana portion of her being."

I blinked slowly at her, "That's actually possible?

Winter lifted an eyebrow, "Do you have another explanation?"

I grimaced and turned back to Kali, "I mean, is that true? Can you not use mana anymore?"

She frowned, "I can't even sense it anymore, unless all of it just up and disappeared."

"Holy cow." Onyx breathed, "Changing a monster… even a half-monster back into a fully normal human…" He shook his head, "If we can replicate this, then imagine the possibilities."

I nodded, "I mean you're right, that's great and all, but…"

"That means I'm pretty much completely useless." Kali finished for me.

I winced, "I mean, I was going to say 'vulnerable', but that is the gist of it. You still have quite a bit of knowledge about the occult; that's not exactly useless."

"Fair enough, I mean after all," She looked slyly between Winter and myself, "You couldn't even recognize that the rune on the knife throw was a-"

"In any case," Winter interjected, "The point of the matter is that we will simply have to account for this new development in combat situations." She turned back around to Ironwood, "So a being, one of whose names is 'The Weaver' controls this… attraction, what exactly does that entail?"

Ironwood looked he was about to refuse, but I lifted an eyebrow and he replied through gritted teeth, "She of the Great Loom will attempt to intertwine your fate with those who love you or have loved you." He explained, "Each of you will sit in a boat and she will work her magic to forever tie you to them, in a truly rapturous display of-"

"Right," I answered drily, "So first things first, it looks like we can comfortably fit two people in each boat."

"But that will dilute the magic!" Ironwood protested, "With more than one soul inside each boat it will ruin the ride!"

"Exactly, so who should be with who?" I asked, turning to Winter.

Winter crossed her arms, "Onyx and Sable, you and Jaune, myself and Kali... Ironwood can take care of himself." She replied promptly.

I thought about that for a moment, and then nodded, "Sounds good, start the ride James."

Ironwood grumbled but walked up and unlocked the gate, allowing three boats through, gliding gracefully to stop in front of us.

"All aboard." Ironwood called, although his enthusiasm from the prior 'attractions' was noticeably absent.

Winter and Kali immediately stepped forward to the first boat, the latter almost daring me to protest. At a glance I could tell that was a losing battle, so instead, I beckoned Jaune and we sat in the second boat. Onyx and Sable took the rear boat, their hands clutching their weapons tight.

Ironwood stepped around the side and tapped his cane on the wall, and a horrible, jilted tune began to echo from the tunnel.

"Is it weird that I'm just not that creeped out by this kind of stuff anymore?" Jaune asked as he looked ahead at the tunnel, "Like, I just kind of look or hear something like this and I'm kind of like, 'huh, that's creepy'; but I'm just kind of numb to it."

"It means you're getting used to it." I answered, "So that's not weird, but you are."

"Oh, well that's a relief…" He muttered as we passed into the tunnel and the darkness ahead.

* * *

Almost as soon as the boat passed into the tunnel, I felt the weight of something's attention being fixed on me.

"Um..." Jaune's head turned from side to side, his hand on the hilt of his sword, "You feel that?"

"Yeah," I answered as I drew Harbinger, "Be on your toes."

As we floated serenely forward, a soft breeze began to form, swirling around our boat. My eyes narrowed as they darted around, trying to judge where the first attack was going to come from.

The wind picked up, blowing through my hair, and I frowned as I saw that there were things caught up by the currents. They looked almost like…

"Are those flowers?" Jaune asked.

I nodded, feeling my heart drop, "They're Wolf-Howl blossoms."

Jaune lifted an eyebrow at me, "Since were you a flower expert?"

I gave him a weak smile, "Not me, but someone I knew once… they were her favorite."

"That's right," A soft voice whispered, "They were."

Jaune practically leapt out of his seat, his sword and shield at the ready as he squared off against a woman who had appeared at the back of our boat.

I turned my head, a sudden calmness seeping its way through my body, causing me to relax, "Luna." I greeted her.

The woman smiled, her crystal blue eyes bright under her short, silvery hair, "It's been a while, Qrow."

"That it has." I agreed.

She stood up and began walking forward gracefully, only to have Jaune step in front of her.

"Who's the boy Qrow?" Luna asked.

"This is Jaune, Jaune Arc." I answered, "He was the one who-"

I was cut off as Jaune stepped back onto my foot, cutting me off and momentarily snapping me out of the strange lethargy that had been stealing over me. I shook my head, blinking rapidly.

"What in the-"

"Qrow watch out!" Jaune shouted as thin lines shot out of Luna's sides and rocketed towards me.

I began to stand up, but I was way too late, and all of the strands slammed into me, sending me falling over backwards.

I gasped as I felt the tips squirm and writhe over my flesh, as though attempting to pierce it. There was a sharp prick, and then suddenly the strands recoiled.

I looked up to see that Jaune was pinned to the ground by one of Luna's arms, which had grown to an absolutely grotesque size. He let out a frustrated snarl as he tried in vain to lift his sword, but Luna ignored him, instead looking at me with a melancholic face.

"So…" She whispered, "That's how it is then."

"What are you talking about?" I asked her as I got to my feet, my hand on Harbinger's hilt.

She smiled sadly, "Another has greater claim over you than I."

I frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Please don't tell me you're still this dense… it means that someone else loves you enough that the magic is diluted to the point where the Weaver's magic can't use me to hurt you." She cocked her head, "Although, the fact that there are two people in the boat probably helps with that."

"Right," I said cautiously, "So… what now?"

She walked forward, her eyes fixed onto mine, "It means that this is good-bye."

"Again?" I asked, my heart twisting in my chest.

She laid a hand on my shoulder, "At least this time we get to say it."

I lowered my head, and she touched her forehead against mine, then simply… faded… like dust in the wind.

Jaune shot to his feet, breathing hard, "What in the hell…" He wheezed, "Was that?"

I sat down, feeling alternating waves of dizziness, and pain from a wound that I thought had closed long ago.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the magic of this 'attraction'." I managed, "It apparently has the power to bring people back to use against you."

There was nothing but the sound of gently lapping water for a couple of minutes.

"So who was she?" Jaune asked.

I let out a long, slow sigh, "Her name was Luna… Luna Aluntari, she was at Mountain Glenn, a junior member of Zorja's bombing crew. We met after Operation Scourge went FUBAR, during the retreat." I shook my head, "She was tough, capable, had a knack for anything mechanical."

"I'm guessing she didn't have weird string things in her sides?"

I snorted, "Nah, I figure that's the part of the ride that's supposed to kill us."

Jaune was quiet for a moment, "So what happened?"

"When I got this whole 'Guardian of Remnant' gig, I left Mountain Glenn without telling her. I was hoping to just disappear to protect her, let her live a normal life and forget all about the weird shit that happened there."

I snorted, "Of course it didn't work out that way. She heard what I was up to, and formed her own team to start fighting against the weird shit…" I took a deep, shuddering breath, "They got slaughtered," I whispered, "Some cultists from a cult called 'Church of the Starry Wisdom' took them all out. What with I never found out; as when Zorja and I came to clean up house, all they had was some rifles and doppelgangers."

"How do you know what… did it, wasn't there?" Jaune asked.

"Because whatever killed them also levelled five city blocks." I answered, "Some kooks with guns and doppelgangers can't do that. Couldn't have taken Luna down."

I looked Jaune in the eyes, "Listen… kid… if you have someone like that, don't make my mistake, don't ever let them go, don't-"

I bit down hard and turned away. I wasn't sure where the hell that had come from… maybe it was the aftereffect of whatever the heck had made me lethargic when Luna had appeared.

Right, that's what I would have liked to think.

To the kid's credit, he simply nodded and turned to face the front, and we passed the rest of the ride in silence.


	31. Chapter 31

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.**

* * *

Our boat finally exited that god-forsaken tunnel to find Winter and Kali waiting for us on a concrete walkway that extended over to a large metal door.

"So boys," Kali called, "Did you find love?"

Something must have showed on my face because instantly she looked concerned,

"What happened?"

"Nothing," I growled, "Where's Ironwood?"

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end as I felt something grab my shoulder. I turned my head slightly to see the mad general there, grinning from ear to ear, with one hand on Jaune's shoulder and the other on mine.

"You smell of the Weaver my friends!" Ironwood exclaimed, "Oh miracle of miracles, did you experience a manifestation? Even with two people in the boat!"

He leaned forward, his eyes wide as he looked at both of us, "It truly must have been a deep and powerful love to have overcome such a barrier."

I ground my teeth, "Must have been."

Ironwood giggled madly as the last boat arrived, carrying Sable and Onyx inside. The two of them got out and joined us.

"Winter, what's our location looking like?" I asked.

She pulled out a scroll and examined it, frowning slightly, "The good news is that we've reached the fourth basement level; the bad news is that we're on the wrong side of that floor. We'll have to go through one of the maintenance tunnel systems." She nodded towards the door, "That goes back into the main facility. I'll start leading the way from there."

"Sounds like a plan." I replied, Winter walked up to the metal door and yanked it open before going inside, followed afterward by Kali and the two soldiers. I turned to Ironwood, "C'mon, you're not off the hook yet."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it!" He exclaimed, "After all, that's straight to where the Zoo is!" He gleefully skipped his way through the door.

Jaune and I gave each other a look of apprehension, "Straight to where the _what_ is?" He asked.

* * *

A few minutes later, we were standing outside of a large open area, with a massive wrought-iron gate blocking our path. A sign hung over it with obnoxiously large letters, 'The Carnival at The End of the World: Grand Zoo!'

"I don't understand," Winter murmured, "This should have been where the maintenance tunnels were."

"Oh yes, but those simply had to go," Ironwood answered as he began walking up to the gate, "Otherwise there wouldn't have been any room!"

I stepped forward and grabbed him by his collar, yanking him back from the gate, "Hold on, you aren't opening that thing until you answer some questions."

"Well there's no need to be so physical about it," Ironwood sniffed.

"First off, would this," I gestured at the massive open area in front of us, "Get us to where the maintenance tunnels would have?"

"Of course it would." Ironwood replied.

"Great, so second question: you said this was a Zoo, that means everything stays in its cage right?"

"Oh heavens yes!" Ironwood exclaimed, "What kind of Zoo lets its animals just wander where they please. It just simply wouldn't do."

"So there's absolutely no way they can get out?" I pressed him.

Ironwood thought about that for a moment, "Not without outside assistance." He finally allowed.

"And you promise that you won't be part of that 'outside assistance'."

Ironwood placed a hand over his heart, "Of course! The denizens are to stay in their cages while visitors are present; that's the nature of the attraction."

I lifted an eyebrow at that, and glanced in askance at Winter, who simply shrugged, "Alright then," I told the mad general, "Go ahead and open it up."

Ironwood smiled broadly as he strolled up to the gate and tapped it with his cane, causing it it to swing open. Needless to say, the 'denizens' of the zoo ended up being just about every single creepy crawly you could think of. In one glass-walled exhibit there were Culebron, massive snakes with feathery wings along their sides that hissed as we passed, revealing a trio of fangs that dripped a foul liquid that hissed and spat as it dripped onto the ground. In another were Lavelallan, monsters that resembled giant rats. That is if giant rats exuded a foul, purple cloud that could kill you if you caught a whiff of it. In yet another were scaly skinned creatures that I had never seen before. They hopped around their enclosure on a trio of thick, heavily muscled legs with razor sharp claws. Never say that zoos don't teach you anything though, as figuring out their diet wasn't too hard, with the carcasses of several goats strewn around on the ground with giant bloody holes punched haphazardly through their necks.

"And here we have the Nachtkrapp." Ironwood enthused, pausing outside an enclosure that was reinforced with steel plates, causing some areas of it to be covered in shadow, "This creature is completely invisible in darkness, only in light can it be seen. Observe." He tapped his cane on the glass and lights inside the enclosure came to life. It was a massive bird, easily the size of a large dog; with black feathers and a long, sharp beak. However, its wings were strangely tattered, almost like rags, with large holes in them. Its eyes were also unnatural, as they shifted from red, to blue, to purple at seemingly random intervals.

As the light washed across it, it let out a piercing shriek and flew at the glass, seemingly completely unimpeded by the massive rents in its wings. It beat at the glass with its talons and beak, causing the enclosure to shake.

"Neat, now can we please get a move on?" I snapped.

Ironwood pouted slightly, "These are some of the rarest and most extraordinary creatures in the world," He replied, "Each must receive their due."

"I think all the 'due' that thing wants is the flesh off our bones." Kali answered, "I agree with Qrow. The sooner we're out of here, the better I'll feel."

Ironwood sulked slightly, but acquiesced, and we continued moving past the variety of horrible monstrosities that all watched us with hungry eyes.

I deliberately slowed my steps slightly until I was side by side with Winter.

"So it occurs to me that Ironwood will eventually figure out that we're going after the shard." I whispered.

Winter bit her lip, "Yeah, in fact, I'm a little surprised he hasn't figured it out already."

"When he does, how do you think he's gonna react?"

Her expression turned thoughtful, "That's the thing, I'm not entirely sure… he made that huge speech about 'the Contract' and how it was protecting himself and the… former staff. The only thing I could think he would be protecting them from would have been from the shard."

"So it's very possible that he actually would be all for destroying it?"

Winter nodded, "It's certainly possible; although there's another theory…"

"Speciment 1347?"

"Considering its interactions with Ironwood and his minions, its definitely hostile to them. It's spreading at a speed that we have never observed from it. In addition, it had never been able to communicate before."

"Shot in the dark, but what if it and the shard are connected?" I asked.

Winter grimaced, "I've been starting to wonder that myself... and it makes just enough sense and is awful enough that it's probably true. The whispers and influence from the shard could be augmenting the specimen's capabilities; bestowing it with intelligence and will."

"I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping you'd disagree with me."

Winter shook her head, "No such luck… so if we go with that theory, Ironwood will react in one of two ways; he'll either help us, perhaps with the intention of stabbing us in the back. Alternatively, he'll refuse and run off; after all the promise you extracted from him only bound him to get us to 'where we wanted to go'."

I nodded, "I'd add that if he runs off, he'll probably come back after the dust settles with the intention of finishing off whoever's left."

"Likely, yes." Winter agreed.

We walked alongside one another as Ironwood continued pointing out several more awful monstrosities.

"If it comes down to it… to taking him out... are you going to be alright?" I asked her.

"I will do anything to accomplish my mission." Winter replied mechanically.

I snorted, "I'm sure you will." I looked her right in the eyes, "But are you going to be able to cope afterwards?"

Winter hesitated, then bit her lip, "I don't know." She admitted, "After what happened at my family's garden, after those _things_ … Ironwood gave me a sense of purpose and belonging that to be honest my father and my mother never bothered to give me."

I winced slightly at the bitterness in her voice. I had always known that she had been devoted to Ironwood, but had always believed it to be purely a sense of duty to something greater than herself. This though…

"I'm sorry that it's come to this." I said softly.

Winter lifted her chin, "Your concern is appreciated," She answered cooly, "But it's like you with Summer." She nodded at the mad general ahead of us, "He would have wanted me to do it; stop him before he does any further damage."

I winced slightly when she mentioned Summer, but had to acknowledge the parallel, "It's a cruel business." I half-whispered.

"Yeah, but it helps when you work with people who are capable…" Her eyes flickered over to me and then back to Ironwood, "Maybe even people that you admire."

I lifted an eyebrow, "Oh? Like who?"

Winter seemed to hesitate for a moment, then began to speak when she was cut off as Jaune let out a large squeak of terror. Instantly Winter and I had both drawn our weapons and turned to face him.

The young Huntsman was pointing shakily at one of the enclosures, "Uhm…"

My gaze followed his finger, "Oh hell." I muttered.

It was an enclosure that was tucked away down another hall, and its entire front glass wall was shattered, shards covering the floor.

It was also empty.

"Oh joy and happiness." Kali remarked as she observed the scene; the two Atlesian soldiers were much less verbose as they shouldered their rifles and began swiveling around to cover all possible angles.

"Alright Ironwood," I called, "Pop quiz, what was in that?"

Ironwood skipped over to us and his mouth opened into a huge 'o' as he saw the shattered enclosure. Then he clapped his hands together gleefully.

"Why, that held our resident Bone Bug."

"Oh shit." Winter breathed.

Oh _fantastic_ , something awful enough to make the Ice Queen curse; I screwed up my courage, "So what does it do?" I asked.

"What doesn't it do?" Winter replied, "It soaks up mana like a sponge, using it in small concentrated bursts. Usually it does that to knock out its prey, it eats them and then takes the bones and melds them onto its body."

"Huh, so it gets bigger as it eats?"

Winter nodded, "Yes, but that's not all; through that process it can then absorb some of the supernatural abilities of its prey."

"So… say if something has super potent, acidic venom…"

She nodded, "Yes, that and more."

"So how do we kill it?" Jaune asked as he held his sword and shield at the ready.

"Central nerve cluster at the base of the neck, destroy it and it dies."

Everyone was silent as we continued to examine our surroundings, "Uhm…" I glanced over to see Kali nodding at one of the enclosures, "Wasn't there something in there a moment ago?"

I cursed as my eyes snapped over to the enclosure, and sure enough, there were still tatters of fur scattered around from the former resident.

"How in the world…" I began to mutter, then I stopped as I saw something. Carefully, I walked forward to get a better look, "Winter… you should come take a look at this."

She walked up beside me, rapier at the ready, "Ah." She said simply.

At the base of the enclosure was a hole, the metal surrounding it bent inward as though something had pummeled its way through.

"Okay, so explain to me something." I glanced at Ironwood, "He told me that the creatures in here would need outside assistance to get out; right?"

Winter nodded, "Right…"

"So how come this thing is all of a sudden just popping in and out of containers like they're going out of style?"

"Ohhh…"

Winter and I looked back at Kali, who's eyes had gone wide.

"What?" Winter and I asked simultaneously.

"Winter, you said that Bone Bugs absorb mana to use in small bursts right?"

"Yes? What about-" Winter began to ask, then she froze, "Oh."

I frowned, "What? What are you saying?"

Kali looked slightly queasy, "Qrow… remember what happened to me when I tried to channel mana?"

"Specimen 1347 began taking over your body." Then my heart dropped into my stomach, "Oh."

Right on cue, the PA system came on over head, " _ **And Bingo was his name-o."**_


	32. Chapter 32

**Thanks to TehGramerPolise for his help with this chapter.**

* * *

The PA system crackled as Specimen 1347 chuckled, the sound echoing through the Zoo. As it did so, I leaned over to Winter, "So change of plans, screw fighting this thing… this whole place is just teeming with snacks for it to power up on."

"Agreed, so that means running?"

"Pretty much, get everybody to start moving and I'll do what I do best."

"Being an annoying smartass?" Kali interjected.

I grinned, "Get moving." I replied, then I stepped forward. "Back again?" I called, "Just can't ever get enough of me huh?"

" _ **Hello there Chuck, how's it hangin'?"**_

"Just fine, I don't suppose that you could just let us be on our way?"

Specimen 1347 laughed again, " _ **Oh no Chuck, I'm afraid that I'm still recruiting for the apocalypse… and have a far more personal matter to settle as well."**_

"Oh, see, now you have me guessing which one I am." I kept walking forward, getting some distance from the rest the group for the inevitable attack. "I already turned in my rejection notice, but so far you haven't seemed to take the hint."

" _ **Well, that's the rub,"**_ The thing's voice oozed, " _ **You know how your parents always told you to be polite when you're invited to someone's house or else you wouldn't be invited back?"**_

"Actually my parents were bandits, so they taught me to steal everything that wasn't nailed down."

" _ **How degenerate… well, suffice it to say, you learned their lessons well. No… I'm far more interested in that shiny blonde Hunstman of yours for fixing my problem of going to stage armageddon."**_

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, "Really?" I replied as casually as I could, "Why's that? I'll tell you now he's got two left feet, so he's not much for dancing."

" _ **Everyone flails around at the apocalypse Chuck, doesn't matter how much swagger they got. No… he was picked for a reason, and it doesn't all have to do with that anima he got stuffed with. He drove me out of the priestess, despite the fact that she had drunk so deep; I'll be needing that."**_

"Qrow, get back!" Kali's voice snapped behind me.

I obeyed instantly, leaping backwards as something dropped down right where I had been standing, slapping wetly on the ground.

It was black as tar, but it seemed much more solid than Specimen's 1347 usual manifestations. It was in the shape of a long, centipede-like creature with large mandibles, it reared up to hiss above me.

"Let me guess," I called back, "This is the Bone Bug?"

"Um… _a_ Bone Bug." Winter replied.

I cautiously looked over my shoulder and my heart fell.

Several similar creatures had emerged from the halls, all moving to surround our little group. So much for distracting Specimen 1347, it had been stalling as well.

"Oh just terrific." I muttered.

The voice over the PA system began laughing, echoing from the gaping maws of the Bone Bugs.

" _ **This guy's a voracious little devil,"**_ Specimen 1347 confided to us, " _ **First thing I ate was a little thing called a Draupnir."**_

"Oh really?" I asked weakly.

"That's a monster that can make duplicates of itself huh?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah." Kali replied, "I'm surprised you knew about them."

"I didn't… just a lucky guess."

" _ **Needless to say I have a couple others going around and collecting more little snacks."**_ Specimen 1347 continued, " _ **So you have two options, either give him to me, or I kill all of you and then take him anyway."**_

"Right," I hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Well, I've got an answer for you."

Specimen 1347 sighed, " _ **Oh?"**_

"Yeah," I brandished my blade, "Vust ignasias vulcanos!" The familiar blue flames flared around my blade and I sliced it across the insect-like creature, cutting it in two.

" _ **How utterly tiresome…"**_

"Screw you!" I snapped, and then turned to the others, "Winter, here!" I grabbed my flask of Mistralian Gold and tossed it at her.

She caught it deftly and lifted an eyebrow, "Drink!" I commanded her as the rest of the Bone Bugs let out a hiss and began to surge forward.

To her credit, she didn't hesitate, popping off the cap and draining the contents. Almost immediately her eyes went wide and she slammed her blade into the ground.

A glyph took shape on the ground, however, instead of the usual white, it glowed golden, and a pack of golden figures in the shape of massive, armored Beowolves emerged. Letting out bestial howls, they threw themselves at the Bone Bugs, tearing them to pieces.

"Nice!" Jaune shouted.

Almost instantly, the from the vents surrounding us, there was the sound of _somethings_ slithering towards us.

"Run!" I shouted, "Winter, leave a couple to cover us!"

"Got… it." She replied, and two of the summoned creatures turned to face down the vents, letting out low growls.

The others went to either side and the front, forming an escort.

"Ironwood!" I shouted, and the mad general snapped to attention, grinning broadly as he surveyed the carnage, "Get us out of here!"

"Oh how exciting!" Ironwood declared as he led us in an all-out sprint down the hall.

* * *

It is the unfortunate state of my life that there are several times that I could describe something as a 'scene out of hell'. This however, certainly came down close to bringing it to a whole new level.

Let me set the scene, we were running down a long, dark hallway, following a cackling mad-man. That's bad enough, but then we had monsters of every shape and size that were growling and slamming against the walls of their containment units. What was even more ominous, however, were the ones that had large holes in them, and now stood empty, undoubtedly some victims of the Bone Bugs. Said Bone Bugs would then at times swarm out of various nooks and crannies, their large mandibles clicking together and their many legs beating out a staccato on the floor.

Each time this occurred, one of Winter's golden beasts would peel off, engaging the monsters and ripping them to shreds. However, each time this happened, we inevitably lost one of our golden escort. Soon, we had only two left, both at the front.

"Winter, keep those two up front." I commanded, "We need to keep moving, and those two will stop them from slowing us down. If any come at us from the sides we'll just have to deal with them."

"Und-understah… understood."

I jerked my head around to examine Winter. The woman's face was flushed, her movements slightly sloppy and with her speech slurred…

Maidens above, she was inebriated.

Right at that moment, she stumbled, and nearly fell to the ground, but I was able to stoop down and catch her on my shoulder.

"Seriously? You're this much of a light-weight?!"

"Yo-you bite me, you stupid, handsome bastard you."

"Oh Kir'Ala, she _is_ drunk." Kali leaned down and helped me support Winter as we continued to run down the hall.

"She took like, three mouth-fulls, how is she this drunk?!" I demanded.

"Not everyone has an alcohol tolerance that makes their internal organs scream in agony." Kali snapped back, "Besides, there's probably more to it than just the alcohol; she did just take in a bunch of anima."

I let out a hiss of frustration, Kali was right damn it. It actually spoke pretty well to Winter's level of control that she had been able to channel it like she had; it was only natural to think there would be some kind of side effect.

Ironwood continued to caper ahead us, giggling madly as he took a bewildering series of twists and turns.

It was about on the fifth or six such turn that we got another nasty surprise.

It started with one of our escort peeling off to take care of yet another group of flanking Bone Bugs. However, this time, instead of the customary growls and roars, there was a scream followed by high-pitched whines of pain.

I craned my neck to see four Bone Bugs, all of them frothing with a green, foul liquid around their mandibles that I could hear spitting and hissing from here. Oh great, they had eaten the Culebron; and from the looks of it, they were going to be in time to cut us off.

Onyx and Sable saw them as well and began opening fire, their rifles chattering as the heavy rounds flew downrange.

The bullets bounced off the monsters' tarry skin, which isn't to say that the bullets didn't have any effect. One of the creature's went down as the bullets simply pounded into it until it fell, its screech turning into a wail of despair.

The other three however, kept coming.

"Jaune!" I shouted, "On our left!"

The young Huntsman nodded and picked up his pace, his shield and sword glowing golden as he intercepted the creatures.

Two of them met him head-on, hissing in frustration and pain as he slashed at them with his sword and battered them with his shield.

The third however, cannier than its brethren, wrapped around the side, and it drew back its head to spit.

Without even thinking, I ripped out Harbinger and flipped it to its shotgun form, and quickly fired off a shell.

The creature's head snapped backwards, slamming its mandibles shut as it prepared to launch a glob of the deadly green liquid at Jaune. Its eyes turned to me, full of fury, and it began to gather up again; this time aiming at me.

Time seemed to slow, I couldn't dodge this, burdened down as I was by an unconscious Winter and a Kali with no Aura to speak of. Therefore, I would have to stop it before it could; that meant that the next shot from Harbinger would have to end it.

But I couldn't power it up with anima, I was completely out of Mistralian Gold, and even if I had any, it would take too long to drink it, too long for its effects to take hold.

That left me with only one, desperate option.

"Vust ignasias vulcanos!" I yelled, calling forth every single bit of power that I could pull.

A gout of flame launched from my weapon; a torrent so hot that I could feel it scorch my hand. The fireball slammed into the Bone Bug, vaporizing it instantly, along with a large portion of the wall behind it.

"Awesome!" Kali shouted, then she turned to me, her face full of concern as I slowed to a walk.

"Qrow?" She called.

Because fire was coursing through my veins, eating at me from the inside, I wheezed and felt air hot as a furnace leave my lungs, scorching the inside of my throat.

I had just taken a _lot_ of power from Sarongar, perhaps far more than I ever had before so quickly.

And he was _not_ happy about it.

Finally, as quickly as it had come, the feeling vanished, leaving me wheezing for air. I felt as though I had just emerged from a sauna, with my entire body drenched in sweat. Besides that, the only remaining effects was a burning coming from the Sarongar's mark.

"Qrow?" Kali repeated.

"I'm… fine." I replied as I picked up the pace once more. To our side, Jaune had defeated the others and took his place back in the formation as we continued running through the nightmarish maze.

* * *

Finally we came upon a straight hallway, in the distance there were a pair of heavy steel doors with a large sign that read, 'Thank you for visiting' in large, colorful letters.

The problem is that already there was a black mass of Specimen 1347 beginning to gather up, along with at least twenty Bone Bugs that were rearing up and hissing as we approached.

"Oh… that's not good." Kali breathed.

"Hey! Onyx!" I called, the Atlesian soldier ran to my side and I passed the semi-conscious Winter off to him, "Hold on tight, this is gonna get rough."

I then sprinted up to Jaune, "Alright kid, gonna really need to pull out all the stops on this one. Put everything you've got into your shield, I'll slice anything apart that gets past you."

He swallowed nervously as he stared at the creatures blocking our path, "Uh… right…"

"Hey," I put my hand on his shoulder, "You can do this."

The young Huntsman nodded, then took a deep breath and the familiar golden glow began suffusing his weapons.

For my part, I began chanting under my breath, pulling deep on Sarongar's power, "C'mon you fiery bastard." I muttered, hoping that I hadn't already pushed my luck. The brand on my arm tingled a little, but the flames came to my scythe burning hot and strong.

The last two summons from Winter's Semblance let out a pair of bestial roars as we approached and they sprinted ahead. They slammed into the mass of creatures, rending several of them to shreds before dissipating.

"The rest are ours Jaune!" I shouted.

In response, he lowered his shoulder and let out a battle cry as he barged forward, a golden light flaring outward from his shield; slamming into most of the creatures.

At least five of them however, were completely unaffected, and they reared back before lunging forward at us past the golden light.

I grinned as I spun my scythe in series of slashes, neatly slicing them apart… save for the last one, as the flames around my weapon sputtered out.

"Oh Sarongar you piece of-" I was cut off as the last Bone Worm slammed into me, sending me to the ground.

I lifted up my scythe as the thing lunged towards my face with snapping mandibles, barely stopping it from ripping my face off, but the damn thing was strong. It reared back and lunged again, sending the black, tarry substance splattering across me as it shoved my weapon back, its mandibles getting ever closer.

The crushing weight vanished abruptly as a boot slammed into the beast's side, sending it flying off of me. I blinked in shock as Winter stepped over me, "Get off of him, you vermin!" She slurred as she brandished her rapier.

The Bone Bug shook itself, and then turned its gaze to the woman, and then with a screech it lunged forward in a wave.

Winter stepped forward to meet it, and with a yell, sank her blade straight into the beast's face. It reared back with a wail, but she pressed forward, sawing the weapon back and forth, widening the wound. Finally, the Bone Bug's thrashings slowed, and then finally, its entire body slumped as it went still.

Winter planted her boot on the creature's face and then heaved, yanking out her blade with a sickening squelch. "Yeah that's right, you get away from him you damn, dirty bug." She staggered, and seemed about to say something else when she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

I blinked owlishly at the woman's fallen form, then turned my head slowly to Kali and Onyx, who were both slowly getting up from the ground.

"Well, damn." Onyx muttered.

"I thought you two were holding her." I snapped at them.

"I mean, you saw what she did to that thing; I don't want my head sawed in half thank you very much." Kali replied.

I winced, "Right," I stood up and walked over to Winter and heaved her onto my shoulder once more, "Alright, Ironwood, get this door open while the coast is clear."

There was no answer and I looked around, "Ironwood?" I called.

The mad general was gone, leaving us in front of a pair of heavy steel doors, in the distance I could hear the skittering of thousands of legs as Specimen 1347 began gathering his minions once more.

"Ah hell." I muttered.

"Well, I mean, good news, this is where we needed to get to , right?" Kali asked, "That's the only way he could have scampered off."

"Maybe? Who knows what kind of loopholes he could have made in that mind of his." Onyx grumbled.

I slammed my shoulder into the doors, hoping that they wouldn't be locked shut, but they were stuck fast. "Damn it," I shook my head, "Forget about Ironwood for now, we need to get through this door; Onyx, Sable, any ideas?"

The woman shook her head, "These doors weren't here originally; they must be something that have been added recently."

"Recently…" A thought started forming in my head and I carefully examined the door.

Sure enough, there was something strange about the doors, most notably in between the two of them was a large square indent in the metal, and just to the right of that was what appeared to be a small hatch with a handle.

I grabbed the handle and pulled to reveal a cube with hundreds of squares, all with a different color.

"Oh hell." I muttered as I pulled it out and began rearranging it, "Is anyone good at these things?"

Jaune sheepishly raised his hand and I tossed it to him, with a look of intense concentration, his fingers flew as he began attempting to solve it. At the end of the hall I could see movement in the shadows as Specimen 1347 prepared to attack again.

"Alright," I turned to the rest of the group, "While he's doing that, we'll hold them off here, Onyx, Sable, you two cover me while I hold the front, Kali, you'll be watching over Winte-"

There was a loud _click_ behind me and I turned to see the two massive doors opening. I looked in bewilderment at Jaune, who shrugged, "I'm alright, my sisters are better."

"Nevermind then," I said, "We book it now."

The monsters at the far end of the hall seemed just as surprised as I was and we were already through the doors and closing them behind us as they swarmed skittering and scrambling towards us.

The doors firmly secured behind us, I turned to see just where we had ended up.

It was a broad, sparse room, with a set of computer banks on the far side. Dominating its center was a massive, golden ring; even without anima coursing through me I could feel the energy surging off of it in waves. Sitting on a pedestal in front of it was a large, rather ordinary looking rock.

On my shoulder, Winter groaned, "Oh Maidens my head… where am I?"

"Well look who's up," I quipped, "Is this it?"

"My scroll. Has the tracking program up… oh Dust I'm gonna be sick."

"Take deep breaths and relax your muscles." I told her as I grabbed her scroll and pulled up the map, sure enough, we were right on the money.

"Yeah, we're here," I looked up at the rock, "I thought you said that the shard-thing looked like a crystal though. That just looks like a rock."

"What do you mean it just looks like a ro-" Winter's head suddenly snapped up, her eyes wide, "Wait, on the pedestal there are two artifacts right?"

I shifted her so she could get a better look, "Oh no." She breathed. "The shard, it's gone."

"Great, of course it is." Kali muttered, "It'd be too easy otherwise."


End file.
